USA Hockey Adult Hockey

Ira Kalet loved hockey.

The sport was so important to him that his University of Washington faculty photo was of him in his adult hockey league uniform, cropped from a team photo. Kalet stood proud with his Hackers jersey on and helmet at his side.

Unfortunately, the 70-year-old university professor suffered from a variety of cancers and eventually passed away from lung cancer on Feb. 21, 2015.

In Kalet’s obituary, he used the same photo. Kalet certainly loved the game.

“That was just how he saw himself, as a Hacker,” teammate John Cristelli said. “That was a pretty important piece of who he was. ... To think that adult league Sunday night beer league hockey was so important to him was pretty cool.”

Kalet hung up his skates for good on Dec. 7, 2014 — 10 weeks before his death — but still attended a couple Hackers games as spectator in the Greater Seattle Hockey League (GSHL).

“One thing about him that cracked me up so much, he loved hockey so much and when his cancer got so bad he wasn’t allowed to drive anymore, he’d wait at the end of his driveway with his bag waiting for someone to pick him up and bring him so he could play hockey,” Hackers teammate Lonnie Roughton said.

Hackers teammates attended Kalet’s wake in their hockey jerseys. Kalet was even buried in his team jersey.

The loss of a teammate and dear friend was difficult on a number of the Hackers.

“It was tough for me in particular and a couple others who had given him rides and been close to him for years,” said Cristelli, who first joined the team when Kalet drafted him. “When I got into this, it was just to play and get on a team. After getting to know Ira and kind of the philosophy he had toward the team and then giving him rides — during that time he decided to transition the captain position over to me, and that was a nice honor. We grew a lot closer as a team than I ever would have expected around this particular event.”

The Hackers finished out their 2014-15 winter season playing in Kalet’s memory. The guys had patches made with Kalet’s No. 36 and wore them on their home jerseys. The team also retired his number. Kalet is also still on the team’s roster this season.

Kalet was one of the Hackers’ founders 11 years ago, and now Roughton is the lone remaining original member. Kalet helped name the team, too, since a number of the original players worked in the tech industry: hence Hackers.

Kalet made the team what it is today with its rich culture, noted Cristelli. When Kalet handed over his captain duties to Cristelli, the new ringleader followed his predecessor’s example. Since the GSHL is a draft league, the majority of the Hackers players come back but a few new players join each season. Kalet used the “no A-hole rule” when drafting, and Cristelli continued the tradition.

“We kind of run the draft prospects through that filter and have them come out to a stick and puck kind of thing and see, are they a fit or are they not a fit?” Cristelli said. “It’s all about keeping that culture as stable as possible.”

The draft rule seems to work. The Hackers players have a great time on the ice together reach season.

“Everyone’s got their own personality, but we all get along so well,” Roughton said. “We hear about other teams arguing and fighting and yelling at each other. That’s just not us.”

The Hackers play in Division 6B — there are eight divisions in the GSHL — and have a wide range of ages on the team. There are some guys who are in their late 20s to early 30s all the way up to Roughton at 67. The average age is mid- to late 40s.

“I’m kind of following in Ira’s footsteps,” Roughton said. “I just love the game and I just keep going.”

The age range makes it fun, while the wide variety of professions represented on the team creates another interesting dynamic.

“We have one gentleman that’s a division head of artificial intelligence at Microsoft on down to a guy who repairs appliances for a living and everything in between — doctors, chiropractors, different types of tech professionals,” said Cristelli, who is 50 years old. “All of that goes away once you get in the locker room and we’re just a team.”

The Hackers generally produce a strong team each season. In their 11 years of existence, the team has won the championship twice, winning a beer mug each time. They’ve also earned a shot glass a couple times as runners-up.

“It’s exciting to win, but we’re not mad when we come into the locker room after a bad game or something, so that’s great,” Roughton said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc