More often than not, the messages have been about numbers. For Lynes, from Ellicott City, numbers -- and beating them -- have made all the difference.

In 2004-05, there were 445,245 players registered with USA Hockey. In this year's NHL draft, 60 of the 213 players drafted were American-born.

Taken by the Washington Capitals in the fourth round of this year's draft, Lynes, 18, was not only one of a small percentage of junior hockey players to be selected, but also one of the few Maryland-born players to make it this far.

Now Lynes has to concentrate on beating the odds again -- playing in the NHL.

"Only three out of every 10 players drafted play in the NHL," Lynes said. "To make it to the next level you have to outwork all the other guys who were drafted."

Hard work is one of the qualities that impressed the Capitals. Ross Mahoney, the Capitals' director of amateur scouting, said the team chose Lynes with the 122nd overall pick in part because of his ability to score goals, his work ethic and his discipline both on and off the ice.

Maryland junior hockey isn't as strong as some of the traditional U.S. hockey hotbeds such as Minnesota or Michigan. So young elite players often leave the area to seek out stronger competition. Stephen Werner of Chevy Chase left home to play for the national under-17 and under-18 teams in Ann Arbor, Mich. Werner was drafted by the Capitals in the third round in 2003 and played at the University of Massachusetts before joining the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League in March.

"Hopefully in the future there will be some options for hockey players where they can play in the area, but right now it's still at the point where you need to leave at some point during high school," Werner said.

Lynes left after ninth grade and spent two years at Culver Military Academy in Indiana. Capitals captain Jeff Halpern played at St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H.

All three, at one point, spent time with the Washington Little Capitals, the only top-tier junior team in the area, and all three drove all over the East Coast to play against high-level competition. But good competition at home was difficult to find.

"Where you develop is not really in games, but in practice, and if you don't have high-caliber people to push in practice you won't achieve your maximum level," said Shawn Lynes, a coach with the Little Capitals. "The difficulty for kids around here is around ages 12 to 16 and getting enough ice time."

Though junior hockey isn't intended to prime each and every Maryland player for an NHL career, for some, such as Halpern, Werner and Lynes, it leads to the decision between playing college hockey or major juniors. Halpern and Werner chose college while Lynes chose the major junior route.

After being drafted by the Brampton (Ontario) Battalion in 2004, Lynes immediately knew he wanted to go to Brampton, about 40 minutes from Toronto. The evidence was in the numbers.

He knew more Canadian Hockey League players get drafted to the NHL than NCAA players. He knew that the Ontario Hockey League had the highest percentage of CHL players drafted.

"I knew that getting drafted to Brampton, they have a high percentage of players getting drafted so I knew it was the best fit," Lynes said.

And then he faced another hurdle: convincing his parents that forgoing college was the right choice. Shawn Lynes had played forward for Miami University in Ohio and had his heart set on his eldest son doing the same.

"There were some long conversations," Luke Lynes said. "My dad had me making [pro and con] lists and he wouldn't let me leave the house until they were done."

The tally? Two pros and 40 cons for college. Forty pros for the Ontario Hockey League and just one con -- school. After promising his parents he would take school seriously, the Lynes family agreed to let him go.

"It wasn't an option for me, I was going to go to college," Shawn Lynes said. "But I always have in the back of my mind, what if I played major junior? So I let it be Luke's decision."

Last season, his second season with the Battalion, Lynes had 34 goals and 28 assists in 65 games, a vast improvement over his 11 goals and 13 assists during his first season with the team in 2004-05.

"Luke's a very skilled player," Battalion Coach Stan Butler said. "He has very good hands and he's very dangerous around the net."

Butler said there was also interest in Lynes because of his ability on the power play, an important asset given the increase in penalties in the NHL.

Lynes will next attend Capitals' summer development camp Sunday through July 14 in Hershey, Pa., just as Werner and Halpern once did. But even though so few Maryland players make it to the NHL (Halpern is the only current one), Mahoney said it's just a coincidence that the Capitals selected both Werner and Lynes.

"We're never going to waste a pick on someone just because they're from the area," Mahoney said.

Then again, having character references from the local leagues helped.

"Because they are from the area and we do have people who do see them play early on and they've always said good things, that does help for sure," Mahoney said.