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Two Washington Capitals hockey players took a break from the ice Monday to pay a visit to a gym full of fifth- and sixth-grade Greenbelt Elementary School students.

Eric Fehr and Tyler Sloan, along with assistant coach Dean Evason, visited the school for a question-and-answer session, a brief tutorial and a hockey scrimmage between the boys and girls.

Greenbelt Elementary School signed up online before the season began to have the players visit the school. Washington Capitals Spokeswoman Kelly Murray said the team tries to visit schools in different areas throughout Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

"We're very excited to have the players come out and show the kids sportsmanship and about what they've done with their lives," Principal Kimberly Seidel said. "It's just great to have them at our school."

A few of the questions, like ‘Why are hockey pucks round?' left the players stumped, but the students were mostly interested in whether the players had ever been injured and what they liked to eat before a game.

Fehr and Sloan also showed the students how to properly grip a hockey stick and how to flick their wrists to control the puck. Fifteen children, chosen at random, were able to practice. The players also showed the students how to pass the puck and how to shoot it into the goal, which was a crowd-pleaser. The children cheered hardest for the loudest hits, not by whether the player made the shot. Then it was their turn.

"I made it in," said sixth-grader Gabriel Jose, 11, of Greenbelt after scoring a goal.

With little interference from the professionals, the students took to the gym floor in a competition between the boys and the girls, who gripped their sticks and ran toward the elusive puck. Though the boys made the first shot, the girls scored last to earn a 2-2 tie.

The Washington Capitals visit two schools a month in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., area. This is the third consecutive year that the team has participated in the program to interact with students and teach them skills about the sport. This was the first time Sloan, who has been with the Caps for a year, has visited a school.

"I had a great time, and thought it was a great experience for the kids," Sloan said. "They were really super-excited and enjoyed it, and I thought all the kids did really well in the drills and the shots and even the game."

Fehr said he's visited schools before, but he's never been involved with a scrimmage like the one at Monday's assembly.

"A lot of these kids probably don't get to play a lot of hockey, so it's a chance for us to show them what we do, and hopefully they can learn a little bit and have some fun playing the game," Fehr said.

Sixth-grade student LaJai Kirkpatrick, 11, said she really enjoyed the event.

"My favorite part was the game, when they tied between the boys and girls," Kirkpatrick said, "and when I got to play in the first practice."

The Washington Capitals donated all the hockey sticks, pucks and goals they used during the assembly to the school, and every child in attendance was given an autographed photo by the players.

E-mail Jordan Attebury at jattebury@gazette.net.