In front of the wall of relics memorializing Fairbanks hockey history on the Big Dipper Ice Arena’s second floor, the latest class of Fairbanks Hockey Hall of Fame honorees was introduced Saturday.
Dr. Cary Keller was inducted into the Fairbanks Hockey Hall of Fame, while longtime Hockey Club Fairbanks coach David “Coach Zoom” Szumigala was named Coach of the Year and former referee Clay Wallace received Hockey Week honors. The ceremony served as one of the headline events of Fairbanks Hockey Week, bringing together players, coaches, officials and community members to celebrate the city’s deep hockey roots.
“I was surprised and overwhelmed,” Keller said. “For decades, I’ve walked by or jogged by or skated by the display here, and the pictures of the people on the wall, they’re my heroes. That’s history. That’s Fairbanks history there. And I never thought that I would be included in that.”
Keller, who has been deeply involved in sports medicine and hockey in Fairbanks for decades, said the honor reflected the growth and strength of the local hockey community. “It represents the Fairbanks hockey community and the way that it’s grown over more than 50 years,” Keller said. “To be recognized as an important member of that community is truly an honor.”
Szumigala, who has coached thousands of young players in Fairbanks over more than a decade, described the recognition as both humbling and emotional. “It’s so humbling because hockey is such a big part of the Fairbanks community,” Szumigala said. “I’m just one guy trying to be a coach for a bunch of kids, mostly now coaching six-year-olds.”
He said one of the most rewarding parts of coaching has been watching young players grow into high-level athletes and community members. “Beginning of the season at the Ice Dogs, I had this guy come up to me that’s like 6’8,” Szumigala said. “He said you’re my six-year-old coach. Like, oh my god you’re 20-some years old and I coach people when you’re five. I don’t recognize you anymore ‘cause you’re so huge. He’s like, I remember you.”
“Some people are staying in the community,” Szumigala said. “It’s like the guys that have been here forever, the Nanook players that come just play and then they stay. That’s all the spider web of all the interconnectivity in Fairbanks. I’m not just coaching hockey, I’m coaching life.”
Wallace, who officiated hockey games across Alaska for more than three decades, reflected on the significance of being recognized alongside some of Fairbanks’ most influential hockey figures. “To be in that club, that’s a high honor,” Wallace said. “There’s some hockey people up here on those walls. I’m just delighted and honored that somebody would consider me worthy to be part of that group.”
He also highlighted the unique passion for hockey in Fairbanks, calling it unlike anything he had experienced elsewhere. “There’s a passion in this town for hockey I’ve not seen anywhere else,” Wallace said. “The passion here is different, and I mean that in a good way.”
As Hockey Week concludes, the Hall of Fame ceremony served as both a celebration of past achievements and a reminder of the community that continues to sustain the sport. “To see those names, I look at the wall all the time,” Szumigala said. “To be with that group, it’s beyond words.”