How Two Friends Built an Alaska Hockey Community

What makes someone stay in Alaska for more than four decades?

This week on It's Alaska, Brad Erickson sits down with longtime friends Brad Spees and Tim Briner, whose 45-year friendship began in a UAA locker room when they discovered they were both wearing Philadelphia Flyers jerseys.

The conversation traces their journeys to Alaska in the late 1970s and early 1980s, what Anchorage looked like when they first arrived, and how the state has changed over the years. They share stories about delayed television broadcasts, satellite-only communications, and why, despite today's challenges, they remain optimistic about Alaska's future.

They also discuss their passion for hockey and how, after the Alaska Aces folded, they helped create something new. What started as one recreational hockey team has grown into The Chill Hockey League - a thriving USA Hockey-sanctioned league that now brings together players from every profession and background to compete, connect, and build lasting friendships.

Plus, hear some of the funniest questions they've ever been asked by people outside Alaska, including whether they live in igloos and just how much Denali weighs.

Whether you're a lifelong Alaskan or simply fascinated by the Last Frontier, this episode is a reminder that the people and the community are what make Alaska truly special.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hey everybody, uh it's Alaska, the podcast about uh Alaska and the people that are in it or coming to it or visiting or or uh whatever the case may be. And we've got Brad Spees and uh Tim Briner here. And uh hockey is a huge thing in Alaska, as you would think, as you would just assume, because we have what, eight, nine months of winter, maybe a little less, maybe a little more, just depending on the season. But uh hockey is huge in Alaska. Um Brad, let me start with you. Uh we always like to ask this because there's just so many different stories. Like if you're from, let's say, you know, a certain part in Lower 48, yeah, you know, that's cool, but nobody really cares. What is your Alaska story? People care about that. How did you how did you come up here? How did you make Alaska your home and do the things that you do?

SPEAKER_02 0:50

So in um late 1976, the bicentennial year, I was living in suburban Philadelphia. I was born that year, FYI. Yeah. I don't feel old, Brad, at all. You look great.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

No, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I was not gonna I would not assume that you're that old. But okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

So I'm there and my folks come home from uh dinner, and that's where I was born and raised. I was a junior in high school. My dad came home and said, Hey, I have this great opportunity. My dad had been a naval officer at the tail end of World War II.

unknown 1:21

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Went to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1951 started with a company called Atlantic Refining. And the connection of Alaska was it became Arco Alaska. So at any rate, my dad came home one day and said, Hey, I have this huge opportunity, uh, great advancement in his career. And he said it's going to require us to move, but I don't want to uproot the family because we had a you know great life back there. And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, LA or Houston or Bellingham, Washington, anything like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

Thinking like that, like like yay, or oh, I don't want to go there.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

I was thinking, okay, well, yeah, it'd be all right. And he said, Alaska, and the lights went off, and the uh and it was like, what? This is so cool. Oh, really? Okay. Loved it. And you know, it's funny. So he said, um, you know, I uh two older brothers, myself, my mom and dad, and he said, we'll just put it to a vote. I mean, my dad, if we had voted it down, we would have stayed. That's the kind of guy he was. And so we unanimously voted to come to Alaska. And in early 1977, I took my first flight on a commercial airliner from Philadelphia to Anchorage.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Um, how many connections were there back then?

SPEAKER_02 2:40

This was a stop in Cleveland. We had all the Rust Belt cities. Uh we ended up going into Detroit of all places on Northwest, and we did a change there and came up. And I landed and it was in March, and it was this gray monochrome, sloppy, crappy day. That's what marches are, yeah. And we our house wasn't ready yet, so we were over at uh the old inlet towers when it was an apartment building. And I said, Oh my God, what have I agreed to? I want to go to LA. So at any rate, long story short, uh very quickly the weather got better. I went out and I finished my high school out at Chugiac. Uh and I've lived in Eagle River for basically my whole time in Alaska, a few years here in town. And I rapidly fell in love with Alaska. I fell in love with the outdoors, I fell in love with just how cool people are and what a unique group of people. So I was kind of like a space transplant from suburban Philadelphia on a Thursday.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

I mean, that's night and day, Philadelphia and Alaska.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

And I went to Chugiak High School on a Tuesday, and it was like you could have just landed me on Mars at that point.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

That's a great story. Now, Tim, what's your Alaska story? How did you get uh how did you get here?

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Uh I was also uh I'm basically Brad and I are about the same age. Um I think I'm a couple months older than he is, but uh my folks uh moved around a lot when we were kids. My dad worked for uh a company called uh the insurance company of North America, which was one of the first, if not the first, uh stock uh insurance, privately owned insurance company in the United States. That covered the entire United States. Okay, they were back from colonial days, yeah. Like one of the oldest insurance companies. And he worked for them after he got out of the uh the military uh in Korean War and uh and then uh they moved him around basically, he was kind of like a fixer. You know, uh offices that had problems, he would uh you know, go in and clean up the problem and then move to another office. So cleaner. Basically, yeah. The cleaner. You're gone, all right, you're saying the Harvey Kaitel of insurance. And uh so every basically year and a half or two years we would move. Um but he started in Philadelphia and uh we lived there when I was born and uh moved up and down the East Coast, spent time in New Jersey, Connecticut, uh different parts of Pennsylvania and uh uh upstate uh New York. So how did you get to Alaska then? I mean again you're gonna be able to do it. Out to California and um and then they were in California throughout my high school years, and then I was going to UC Irvine, and the they got an opportunity, he he was basically given an opportunity to come to Alaska, and my dad was always uh an outdoorsman. Uh that's a perfect place for him, yeah. Uh hunter. We used, you know, used to hunt white-tailed deer back in Pennsylvania. Um he's from western Pennsylvania, so you know. Yeah. My mom's from Philadelphia originally, and uh and he was from western Pennsylvania. So we were always into hunting, you know, pheasants and deer and and and whatever we could. And um so the game really opens up a lot more options of what to hunt when you come in. He was excited about the opportunity to come to Alaska. I was going to UC Irvine at the time and I wanted to finish, you know, unlike Brad.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

I mean you Brad, you did have a choice, but you voted for it. Right. And you obviously you're you know you're an adult now.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

So yeah, so uh I stayed in California. They moved up here. I came actually with them on their first trip up here to when they were house hunting in 19 uh November of 79 and uh witnessed my first uh hockey game in Alaska at uh Ben Bokeh. It was Chilcoot Charlie's versus UAA. Yeah UAA was a club team at that time in 1979. They had not started their NCCA uh hockey program until the following year.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

And for those who don't know who chill what Chilku Charlie's is, that is a legendary bar, actually seven bars in one here in uh in Alaska. So wow, a Chilku Charlie's.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

And one of the uh one of the players for Chilku Charlie's uh is uh still uh a referee that we uh see all the time at all of our games, uh Emilio Beaver. And uh Emilio had a Gordy Howe hat trick in that game coming for Chilku Charlie's. And uh it was a very memory. It was a very memorable game. Obviously, it was fun. I was like, I was like, okay, well, they have hockey here, so that's cool. And uh, you know, being a hockey fan, I was you know uh excited about that. But uh, you know, finished my second year at at uh UC Irvine and then came up in 1980 for the summer and uh basically fell in love with the place. Which happens to a lot of people, they come up for their summer and fall in love and my dad and my brother hunting, fishing, and you know, uh just having a great time. And I decided, well, I think I want to transfer from UC Irvine to UAA. Oh wow. And um and then September of uh 1980, I'm starting at UAA and I signed up for the ice hockey class with Brush Christensen. And uh I'm in the locker room pulling on my Flyers jersey, and Brad Spies comes up to me and says, Hey.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

That's crazy because you're both, I mean, ties to Philadelphia.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

He's like, hey, are you a Flyers fan? And I said, I sure am. And he said, Well, I'm from Philadelphia, and I said, I'm from Philly too.

SPEAKER_03 8:53

Friendship again.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

And that's where we met. That was 45 years ago in September of 1980.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

It was, and the beautiful thing about Alaska is kind of that randomness when you have people coming from all over. But beside from my wife Ruth, who I met the year earlier, Tim is the person who has been actually my longest and lifelong friend. So it was it's just total happenstance, but uh so incredibly cool.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

That is so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

We found that we had a lot of things in common. Besides hockey, music, and uh, you know, movies and just all kinds of you know, the usual stuff.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

And you've seen Alaska, especially Anchorage, change so much. I mean, 1980s, you know, there weren't things where there are things now. I mean, downtown was kind of it, and there was a few other places, but it was pretty much downtown, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 9:45

It was pretty much downtown. Most of the roads were two lanes. You I mean, you had some of the some of the infrastructure, like uh, but a lot of it was not there. Retail choices were very limited. Oh, yeah. Uh my favorite was television, it was two weeks delayed. They'd ship tapes up from Seattle. So you would actually literally play replay tapes. And so when I would travel outside, I'd go back east. I knew in two weeks if I saw something on TV back there, it would be up in Alaska. Technically, you you got reruns up here, even though it's a lot of people. You basically did, yeah. And uh, you know, communications, that was back in the day. Uh, my day job, I'm involved in telecommunications, but there was no uh ground connectivity or fiber connectivity. Uh it was all done by satellite and um just a very, very different place. And I would consider it uh back then as close to frontier as uh you could get uh in in the United States.

SPEAKER_03 10:45

Let me ask you. So back then, 19, you know, late 70s, early 80s, did you think Anchorage would turn into what it is now? I mean, fifth, sixth generation families now, uh, you know, big corporations. I mean, obviously, you know, the economy up and you know fluctuates and stuff, but did you see Alaska growing as big as it did?

SPEAKER_02 11:06

You know, Brad, I actually did. And one of the reasons I really immersed myself uh once my visceral reaction of March uh cleared my mind, I got out and I did a lot of traveling. I spent a lot of time around. Um I worked uh my first job was back with the old National Bank of Alaska, and I got to see a lot of um folks and places, and then I worked uh in tourism for Holland America Line for about 10 years. So I was around the state, and you could see there were some really deep connections. There were families that had been here since, I mean, the 30s, 40s, 50s, and so there was a real core group of what I would consider pioneers and the people. Homesteaders, pioneers. The people who really were instrumental in making Alaska what it was and incredible entrepreneurs. Uh, you know, if you think about um the financial institutions, some of the businesses that uh have grown up over the years. So I've always had a um strong belief in Anchorage and Alaska. So um it has been absolutely amazing to see the growth. Yeah. Um unfortunately, town has kind of uh hit some tougher times, but uh, I'm very optimistic that we're that's gonna change.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

And we talk about that. I mean, that's you know, that that's hitting a lot of small city, media, even big cities. We talk about that. That's homelessness and uh just you know, just economy issues and things like that. And Anchorage itself, uh maybe like you said, you know, back in the 80s it was two weeks before you got to see shows that were coming down there. You know, Alaska is a little bit like that. We're behind the times in some things. Like it's sometimes it's like going through a time machine, you know?

SPEAKER_02 12:53

You know, and it's funny, it's a weird kind of a time warp because we're behind in certain things and then we're ahead on other things. I mean, sometimes what like the uh adoption of technology being in such vast distances, um we tend to adopt technology here sooner and it connects us better. And I think really this is fundamental to our nation and where the economy is going. I mean, if you think about it, the entire retail um world has been turned upside down by large providers, so a lot of small businesses and small shops. Aaron Powell And now you're seeing the next tier. We had that boom where we had a lot of national retailers coming in, so we had some big boxes that are long gone. And it's not just long gone from Alaska. I mean, like brands like Tabla. I mean, all these places. So a lot of this is just kind of a natural evolution of the economy. And I will say one thing, I am absolutely bullish on Alaska. Our best days are ahead of us, in my opinion, because we have such great resources and we really truly have such great people. So we have to decide as a community what can we do to encourage more. But I believe that we have uh a really bright future here.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

What happens to those big, like you mentioned those big buildings and things like that, like uh well, downtown, you know, the Fifth Avenue Mall, um there's, you know, there's some big empty spaces inside the mall. What happens to those? And that's not just here, but that's all over, that's all over the country. What happens to those spaces?

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Yeah, you know, that that's really a dilemma. There's no easy answer. Uh you know, one of the zombies live. Yeah. Zombies. No, wait, aren't those, remember? At least in the movies. I hope that's I hope that's true. I hope so. Wait. Now, is the Whittier tunnel for the zombies, or do we go there to avoid the zombies, right? I think to avoid them. Yeah, so that we get in there and they close the door. I think I'll take my chances with the zombies. It's hanging Whittier.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

Whittier's nice, but it's yeah, it's roughly.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Yeah. Um, we'll keep them down there. You know, I think some of those things, it's real easy to suddenly think of all these ways to repurpose those buildings, but you know, there's economics involved. I mean, there's certain people that own those buildings, real estate investment trusts, there's all sorts of complexity to it. But I think one of the things we have to consider in our community, we have a lot of public facilities already, but we're not maintaining them. I mean, from speaking from the hockey community, um, there are um places that have original equipment from when they were built in the 80s and 90s.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Like a name like Sullivan Arena, probably the Ben Bokey, and then if you go and look at some other properties, the Performing Arts Center, all three that probab not probably haven't been taken care of the way they should have.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Right. And I have to say the folks who have the contract to uh operate the ice rinks now, there's a private organization. They have locally owned, yeah. Locally owned. They have worked very hard to work and make improvements as they can. I mean, some of it is within their control under their contract, some of it you just have to wait for municipal capital. And, you know, we look at these budget deficits and people say, well, you know, then how can you justify, you know, certain expenses? But if we have all this infrastructure that we don't maintain, it's gonna crumble and it's gonna cause even more problems down the road. So as a community, in my opinion, we need to get back to a grassroots level and say, what are the important things for this community? Because if you don't have a vibrant um to me, parks and rec and a uh a cultural life are really important to a vibrant city. Yeah. Because it attracts people, because people will want to come up to be able to enjoy things. Um and so quality of life. Quality of life is huge, important and there's no real again, there's not any easy answers, but we need to have the dialogue. Right now, the dialogue says either it's a tax or it's not a tax. And I think it's a much deeper issue than that. Um throwing a tax on something is a simplistic solution, potentially. But what are we trying to do? What are the things that are important to us as a community? What are the goals? Where are the areas that we can improve and um work to uh enhance what our community looks like? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

And who's best to solve the problem? Is it government or is it private industry or definitely not government.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Exactly. I think we can all if if we're waiting for the government to solve our issues, I you know, I mean, unfortunately, you look at whether it's the state level, whether it's a city, I think when you get in state and city, you get people that care more about it. But when you get, you know, but even then you get a federal level and you know they're trying to keep their jobs. So it it gets really frustrating, like why aren't you doing anything? Well, I'm trying to keep my job.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Yeah. And Brad, you know, I think there's some of that, but also, you know, if you look at our Alaska economy, say a third of it is uh essentially natural resources, a third of it is government. Oil, coal, and a third of it is is the gener you know, essentially tourism and and the rest non-resource-based, and a third of it is government. And whether we, you know, whether we recognize it or not, government plays a big role in our economy. And it's a business. And it is a business. So I I do believe there are very well-intentioned people, as I think we all do, who are serving. However, what we have to do is we have to figure out how to innovate because the same old, same old hasn't been working. And, you know, when you look at it, Anchorage has such potential, but it's been now we're going on 10, 12 years since that kind of early, you know, early teens, 2014. Oil started to go down, a lot of things changed. We went through the pandemic. And it's time for us to, in my mind, revitalize our community and make it a place that people really want to be a part of. I'll tell you, I when I got here, again, other than my fave famous, oh wow, this is a different town. Yeah, I found Alaska and Anchorage in particular to be a wonderful place to be. Exciting, we were doing a lot, there was a lot to do, and it kept growing. And um, you know, we we we'll figure out how to get there. But uh it's gonna take all of us, and it's gotta be at the grassroots level. We're not gonna wait for some magical program to suddenly turn things around. I think that would be a mistake.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

No, I absolutely agree. Yeah, absolutely agree with that. And that and that means uh, you know, folks listening, if you know you live in Anchorage or you live in Alaska in general, wherever you s wherever you live, get involved. You know, get on a get on a board or a committee or be part of you know, be part of the the community council or something. It's like everyone wants to complain and and and put a comment on on Facebook and it's like, well, what are you doing? What uh what have you done? Well uh nothing. Okay. So you know, get involved.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

And and Brad, that's a couple things. One, you know, I'm actively involved in promoting um um mental health awareness, and I'm involved uh on a board that's the largest community mental health provider in the state, and you really get to see a different side of the world in working in that area. Oh, I bet. Um and then, you know, this sounds crazy, but this hockey thing that that has grown and we're doing that's another community outreach. And it's really, if I think about it, it's less about the hockey and it's more about forming a community of people that share a common interest and then building from that and uh making positive things happen.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

Look at Brad doing his own segue. I like it.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

To me.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

To get his own segue into hockey, I love it. Got the little mental health tool, and then into into hockey, which and and I you're right. Let's let's talk about that because um that is very important, especially in a place like Alaska where you know everything we deal with extremes, you know. Oh, there's a lot of light, and then suddenly, oh, lots of dark, you know, suddenly it's you know 60, 70 degrees, oh, it's 40, 40 below, depending on what you know what part of the of the state you're in. So we live in a place of of extremes, which programs like yours and others that provide an outlet for exercise, entertainment, things for people just to go to do and watch, just to be part of something, is so important, especially in a place like this where it can get very depressing.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Yeah, and and you know, this whole thing started, it's kind of interesting. Um so Tim and I share a love of the Philadelphia Flyers, and I was not a hockey player growing up. I mean, we it seemed like back back east, the the winter that you're interested in hockey was sixty degrees. In the winter, you're interested in doing riding your bike. It was, you know, 12 degrees, whatever. But when I came up here, uh was really interested in the UAA program, you know, co the iconic coach Brush Christensen. He was teaching us uh, you know, how to play hockey. And um, I'm probably a D student under uh brushes, uh nothing to do with brush, probably my athletic ability, but Tim is certainly um a much better player. But the thing about it was fast forward, the Alaska Aces. What a great community asset. And so our two uh my wife Ruth and I have uh two adult sons uh now and they got involved in beer league. They were interesting. They didn't play comp or anything as kids, but they got interested and became actually quite good players. And then the ACEs do the economy, kind of folded up shop. ACES were they started when they started originally in the nineties and they were kind of a semi-pro and they worked their way all the way up until 2003, they became a part of what was ACL or ECHL? It was called the E East Coast Hockey League, but they expanded across the nation, so they just shortened it to ECHL. And they had an incredible run for 14 years, three championships. Uh I mean they used to pack pack the Sully, and it was just an event, and it was really a source of community pride.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

And Scotty Gomez and his family was here, so he'd come and sometimes play on the on the on the uh on the team and stuff, which was a lot of people. During the lockout, I think he did that. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

Yeah. And so and then just due to the realities of economy in Alaska and a whole bunch of teams at a minor pro level not looking to come, you know, all the way up here to possibly. Yeah, that's the big one. So I know a lot of the principles of the ACEs, and my hat's off to them for making this, making that go as long as they could in a small market. Yeah. Um, but at any rate, so one day um my oldest son, Brian, came and said, Hey, we should just like kind of do a hockey team of our own. So I said, hey, it sounds pretty good. So back in 2018, myself, Brian, our son Brendan, and my wife Ruth, we said, Well, we'll put a team together. And we thought we'd just add a little bit of flair to it. We did a little kickoff party. Actually, the first call I made was to my buddy Tim. And what did I ask?

SPEAKER_01 24:25

He asked me if I wanted to play about a beer league rocket team. They needed a ringer. Well, not really, because I I hadn't played in 20 years. And you know, that's what I said. Are you sure you want the guy who hasn't played in 20 years?

SPEAKER_03 24:43

Like just a mishmash of baseball beer league, it'll be fun.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

And so I said, okay, if you want me, I'll I'll I'm wherever you want me to.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

And you know, the funny thing about it was so thank God that Brian and Brendan had a bunch of friends because we ended up with a really great collection of men and women, uh, ages probably 19 to at that point, you know, in the 50s. And we coalesced and we had one entry, and there's a city league. Uh it's it's uh back then it was the AAHL, the uh Anchorage Adult Hockey League. And that first year we came together and actually got into the championship game. Um and uh we fell just short in the third period of a very competitive game. Uh that's where I ended up meeting, not right that year, but uh probably a couple l years later, I met uh Tom Carpal and some of the folks here. He's a local legend. Yep. Yes, he is. Um, we could devote a whole segment on nothing but Tom and hockey stories. So maybe we'll do that.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Well don't ask him a question because he won't stop.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

So but anyway, long story short.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

Thank you, Tom.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Long story short, we started that one team. We all had fun. Um, and then there were people that heard about it by word of mouth. So the next year I started a team halfway through the season, the Nuggets, and the Nuggets were truly the bad news bears. That was like a collection of wonderful folks. And if I'm one of the better skaters, that's a very, very bad sign, a horrible sign. And so that team actually went on and won the championship. And there was a little bit of uh advantageous seeding that the league set up where we got a first-round bye and we were the last place team. I haven't figured that one out yet.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

That's usually not how that worked.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

And I think they had it backwards, but ultimately when it counted, uh, we had a couple skill guys on the team and we won. Uh and then the following year, um we had we had a break during the pandemic. It was just too difficult to play. Tim, you were trying to do some playing during the pandemic.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

Yeah, I did play on a team with my nephew who also plays with with the the moose.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

It's hard to play when you gotta be 10 to 15 uh feet apart from each other. Well, yeah You know, a mask and uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

At first we the we didn't have too many requirements, and then they required us to wear masks while we were playing. And that kind of gets in the way. And yeah, well, after the first period, usually the masks were basically around everyone's necks and no one really enforced it. Um but it did basically uh reduce the number of people so that you know it was like people just stopped showing up for games. And so, you know, the team that we were playing on, which was uh Cook and Tribal Council team that uh a bunch of the other guys for the good teams. It was a yeah, really good team. Yeah, uh, but then when half the players don't show up, then it just you know devolved into kind of a morass. And then they basically stopped us from playing altogether uh midway th through the the fall season, and we ended up finishing it in the spring. They let us finish out the the ten games in the uh uh the last few games of the 10 game schedule in the spring. But that was pretty much it. The pandemic ruined a lot of things.

SPEAKER_03 28:23

I mean, that's small businesses, I mean you name it. I mean, there's some that prospered, but most uh struggled, and I'm still struggling today to try to, you know, try to uh make up what they lost.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Uh it did allow me to recruit a couple of good players to the to the City hockey, but uh it was good aligning.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

And so and during that time, we were keeping in touch with everybody. We kept active at least on social media, and people said, When are we starting? When are we starting? And then that really gave me I knew that we had something special. Yeah. I mean, we had a couple really fun years, but that knew this was really important to people, and it was more important than just again get down on the ice. And so we started up again in 2021 and added a third team, and then it got to become a fourth team, and that was a fifth team, and this was all in the context of the current local leagues, and so um we did things differently. We we had a chance and and we had some very competitive teams who won some championships, and so we threw a big party out in Eagle River, and the first um I'm trying to think of uh it we call it the O'Malley Cup. Uh it's literally a pony keg with a uh bowl welded on top. Oh, that's about right. Yeah, it's it makes sense. And we we uh had a parade uh down our street in Eagle River, and the neighborhood kids joined in and we had red wagons, and people are looking at us like, are you guys nuts? And the mental health part was like, mental? And the answer was, you know what? We're gonna yes, we're weird, and we we embrace our weirdness and we're having fun. So anyway, fast forward to here this past year, and we kept attracting teams. So um I formed an LLC uh and then essentially had other teams interested, and I just kept having players reach out to me. So we started with a 12-team uh league here this fall, and we're breaking into two halves, the fall half and then the winter spring half. And the demand is so great, we were adding three teams midway through the season, so we're gonna have three five-team divisions, both at the very high-level hockey, very competitive uh advanced slash uh high intermediate hockey, and then we have a good central intermediate division, and then we have a division that welcomes guys like me who uh, you know, um you can skate around pretty quickly and just don't tap me because I'll probably fall over. But we have fun. A happy Gilmore, really.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

Um not much of a skater, but uh are you a good fighter, Brad? I mean, how do you how's your you know they're trying to cut somebody with a skate or something? Uh you know.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

Once you get your jersey over your head, you have no chance.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Yeah, yeah, that's pretty much it.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

You better tie your jersey down with Brad's around.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

That's awesome. So, you know, and and it is interesting. We've had um just celebrations and we really have formed a community. Another great outreach is I had some players that were active duty military and and some veterans, um, but the active duty military players really seem to enjoy it. And a lot of folks coming on to J Bear, they don't know anybody in the state.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

They're they're out there, and so that's one thing about yeah, that's one thing uh that can be very we have a you know very big military group of people up here, and you know, a lot of them are 18, 19, 20. They're they're just start, they're still trying to figure out you know who they are, and then they come to Alaska and it's like I don't I don't know anybody. This is it it's gonna be scary.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

Yeah, and so I make a special outreach out there. There's a uh Facebook group uh out there for hockey players, and we especially invite them to come join us, and then it really becomes an extended family. So during the holidays, if they don't have places to go, which most of them don't, they don't have family beer come over and it's like come on over and they don't have a lot of money, they don't have a lot of money. Yeah, they're not getting paid a lot by the military, so they're you know they're welcome to come over our place, they come over to their teammates' places, and it really is is an outreach. And you meet some of the most incredible folks that way. There's a lot of really, really wonderful people. Just and the thing I love, it's the great equalizer. I mean, I we have doctors, we have airline pilots, we have guys who work in warehouses, we have folks that are probably between jobs right now, and this whole community comes together, and it has nothing to do with who you are or what's the case. Your financial status or any of that. It's everybody's equal. Shared love of game, uh of the game and uh and friendship. Yep. How do people get involved if uh somebody would like to come out and play or just get some more information about you know being on a team or so I I have a uh a very basic but you know not too bad website and it's uh basic but not that bad. Let me tell you, I need to hire a professional. I I might be in the right place, but uh yeah, I have uh I've uh experimented with Wix, and so far the experiment hasn't gone too far awry.

SPEAKER_03 33:39

But uh Yeah, I've been I've been told that myself. Wix may not be the best.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

They're not bad, but it got me on the web because doing it uh via social media itself is too much. But it's uh um www.thechillhockey.com. So we have a website, it has information on the league, it has sign-up information, um, and um so um that that's really probably the easiest way for people to uh uh to get involved. And right now actually we have maybe a couple slots left. That's how much of the demand has has grown, but we're looking to add three more teams, and then we're then we're gonna stop. We're gonna keep this at 18 teams and keep it as a um a really good, fun, competitive league and community, but we're not gonna just blow out to we're not gonna become the size of the NHL because none of us are going to the show.

SPEAKER_03 34:38

I don't think you have to worry about that. No, I'm not trying to ruin a dream or anything, but yeah, I don't think you have to worry about it. Yeah, exactly. You wouldn't want to be that big anyway, you know? Yeah, you really wouldn't want to be.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Yeah, we have contracts, but you get paid in what is that monopoly? Monopoly button monopolies.

SPEAKER_03 35:00

Yeah, well, it's a beer league, so you get paid in uh beer chips and whatnot, you know?

SPEAKER_02 35:04

12 cents, maybe. Everyone's welcome whether they partake in beer or not, but it's uh and we are 18 plus. Uh we are uh welcome men and women, uh it's a co-ed league. Um and then we are uh we do it the right way. Uh we are part of um the Alaska State Hockey Association, and then we're sanctioned by USA Hockey, which is the governing body of hockey in North America for both amateur and uh you know uh they have uh uh a huge operation at all levels of hockey.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

That is awesome. Yeah. Well I want to ask you one before we get uh done here, I want to ask you each one question. Because being from Alaska, living here for as long as you have, um you go down lower 48, and you know, people don't know a lot about Alaska. I mean they're just you know it what they've read or what they've seen. So uh Tim, what is the dumbest question you've ever been asked about Alaska?

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Uh do you live in igloos? Ah, that's a common one.

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Yes. Do you live in igloos? No. No. No. Yeah, you don't.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

You don't? Your thermostat must be set low because it's kind of chilly.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

It is. Your house might look like one. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 36:24

How about you, Brad?

SPEAKER_02 36:25

What uh what's the and it doesn't be dumb, but I mean you know Well, I've had some intriguing questions and and uh being So you put it nice, I put it dumb question.

SPEAKER_03 36:34

You put it Intriguing.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

Yeah. Very professional, I don't know. Yeah, before I I moved to the telecom industry, I mentioned I had been involved in the tourism industry. I have two favorites. Uh one was what time does the nine o'clock city tour leave? That was a good one. And then the other one that was really might have a deeper meaning. Um, and it was uh, you know, not to get into the Mount McKinley-Dinali controversy. It's denali to me, but back in the day, this is many, many years ago, somebody asked me, what does Mount McKinley weigh? Really? Yeah. And so I don't know if kind of personal.

SPEAKER_03 37:15

How much do you weigh, sir?

SPEAKER_02 37:17

A little too much, but I mean, I was starting to ponder, you know, the whole thing of uh tectonics, plate tectonics and all, and I just kind of gave up and my.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

You even tried a little bit of a tiny bit.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Yeah, my answer was I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

Thank you. Have a good day. I just make things up.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

You know, like what's that what's that I what's that mountain range? And I'll just, you know, oh, that's the taco-ta tube tube range. And it it it's a little bit harder now because you can kind of fact check, but stuff like that, they're not gonna look. They don't know. So I just you know, and they're like, oh, and then I look really knowledgeable and uh and good in their eyes. So just lie to them. That's it. It's my advice. Just make stuff up. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, babzzle them with brilliance.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

BS. BS.

SPEAKER_03 38:08

There we go. Let's leave it on that. That's a beautiful, that's a beautiful saying. Yeah. And uh, I think is the heart of what it's Alaska is all about. It's Alaska. Guys, thank you so much. And one more time, what was the website if people want to get more uh info on the hockey?

SPEAKER_02 38:23

www.thechillhockey.com.