West Hartford’s Rafael Fichandler, a graduate of Hall High School, has earned a unique opportunity with USA Hockey.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Rafael Fichandler, a 2022 graduate of Hall High School, is the winner of the 16th annual Brendan Burke Internship with USA Hockey.

It is a 10-month opportunity for a recent college graduate interested in hockey operations as a career and is based in Plymouth, Michigan. Only one internship is given each year with the winner selected from applications from across the U.S. and Canada. “The role is unique because it allows you to create your path,” Fichandler said. “It looks for someone up to the challenge and they say what are you looking to get out of this.”

Fichandler played hockey for four years at Hall and won the CT Hobey Baker Character Award in 2022 given to players who exemplify the Baker ideal that “ Character Builds Excellence.” After Hall he went to the University of Pittsburgh and majored in business administration.

Entering Pitt, he thought he wanted to follow the same path as his parents and go into the medical field. “After picking up my lab coat I realized I was not going to be a doctor. I spent two years focusing on networking in the business world and found myself talking to people in the hockey world. I quickly started to realize in those conversation what a realistic path it could be working in hockey which is what I love,” Fichandler said.

Much like playing the game itself, he knew that getting anywhere in the world of hockey was going to take hard work, taking advantage of opportunities, and connecting with people who could help him improve his skillset. “Going to Pittsburgh it felt like a door closed on hockey but I just needed a new way to try to love it.”

He said he spent about an hour each day learning all he could every NHL front office. It turned out, he didn’t have to go far to start what he hopes will be a career in the NHL. He found an internship with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation and later came back as a coordinator with the Penguins in his senior year at college. It turned out to be the thing that convinced Rafael that working in the NHL world was indeed possible.

“I networked with people in the NHL with roles I admired and saw a common trend. A few were past Burke Interns and I spent last two years figuring out what would make a great Brendan Burke Intern. Everything I did pointed me to and helped me end up in Plymouth,” Fichandler said.

Rafael Fichandler is the 2026 Brendan Burke Internship recipient. Courtesy photo

After applying to USA Hockey for the internship he waited to hear if he would be selected, while also trying to have a plan for what his first job out of college would be if the Internship did not come through. “I got the call last June. My parents have been such an integral part of everything I wanted to tell them together. My dad was at work and I couldn’t wait so I told my mom and she said you have to tell dad now. We drove to the hospital to see him, I had my USA hockey polo on, and he asked what’s going on and then he said you got it.”

This July he relocated to Michigan – a few days ahead of when he needed to be there – and got ready for what he sees as a great opportunity. “The role is unique because it allows you to create your path,” Fichandler said. In the role he will work mainly with the USA National Development Program handling logistics, but also having plenty of opportunities to work with coaches on scouting and marketing. “I’m excited to say yes to everything and try everything and hopefully a year from now I’ll have the experience.”

No matter which job he is focusing on, he said he wants to help take work off other people’s plates and help everyone be able to do a little more. “My priority is do this year right and when I am ready for next step the opportunity will present itself. I am so excited to give it my all this year. It will help me develop fully into my long-term goals like being with an organization and long-term make a career with in a front office. I’m a 22-year-old – I don’t have the world figured out. I want to earn the BurkeIinternship and am honored to be here and excited to be living it,” he said.

Fichandler is very aware of what his selection means and what the legacy of Brendan Burke and the Internship stand for. “I am grateful for the Burke family. It is a very special legacy to be a part of. To be part of a brotherhood of people that work every day to follow Brendan’s dream and be a good person and follow the goals, I am very grateful for the opportunity, he said.”

Brendan Burke was the son of former NHL executive Brian Burke. The elder Burke will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this fall after a career that included work in the league office, as well as multiple General Manger roles including with the Hartford Whalers. Brendan Burke was the student manager of the men’s hockey team at the Miami University of Ohio. In November 2009, he made headlines when he came out and began speaking about homophobia in pro sports and worked as an advocate for LGBTQ individuals. In February of 2010 at age 21 he died in a car crash during a snowstorm in Indiana.

Rafael Fichandler is the second Connecticut native to earn the position. Lyle Gregory of Branford held the position in 2015-16 and went on to work for the Chicago Blackhawks and now is a hockey consultant.

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