Three-time Olympic rugby player Alev Kelter of Eagle River and 13-year NHL player Brandon Dubinsky of Anchorage have been selected as the newest inductees into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, the organization announced Tuesday.
The hall’s Class of 2025 will also include two “moments,” including Anchorage being the U.S. choice in its bid to host the 1992 Winter Olympics, and Anchorage’s Mario Chalmers hitting a 3-point shot for Kansas in the 2008 NCAA basketball title game that led to his team winning in overtime.
The induction ceremony for the hall of fame’s 17th class will take place at the Anchorage Museum on April 30.
Kelter, 33, was part of Team USA’s bronze-winning Rugby Sevens team at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris and is the first U.S. woman in World Rugby Sevens Series history to reach the 1,000-point career benchmark, according to a press release issued by the hall of fame profiling this year’s inductees. She was a dual-sport NCAA Division I athlete for the University of Wisconsin in hockey and soccer, and is currently a pro in women’s 15s and was part of a Premiership league championship for Saracens of London.
“Perhaps no other Alaskan has excelled in as many sports as Kelter,” the release states. “She starred in hockey, soccer and flag football at Chugiak High, was a dual-sport Division I athlete for the University of Wisconsin in hockey and soccer, and was a three-time Olympian in women’s 7s rugby.”
For its other inductee, the hall of fame declares “Dubinsky is arguably the most versatile, complete player among the 17 Alaskans who have competed in the world’s best league.”
Dubinsky played youth hockey in Anchorage, junior hockey in Portland and made his NHL debut with the Rangers in 2006. He scored 153 goals and 438 points in 823 career regular-season games, spending his first six seasons with the New York Rangers and final seven with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Alev Kelter and Brandon Dubinsky are extremely talented athletes that put together sparkling resumes,” Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Executive Director Harlow Robinson said in a prepared statement. “They’re two Alaskans that excelled on the biggest stage of their respective sports and we’re excited to induct them into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame and add their enshrinement portraits to the wall.”
Former NHL player Brandon Dubinsky, one of two new inductees into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, scored 153 goals and 438 points in 823 career regular-season games. (Photo provided by the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame)
The moments recognition for Anchorage as a potential Olympic site got the approval of hall of fame voters even though the winning bid for the 1992 Winter Games went to Albertville, France.
“But the campaign to bring the Olympics to Alaska was a triumph when it came to dispelling myths about Alaska and establishing Anchorage as a host for major winter sporting events,” the hall’s release states. “It injected a sense of pride and purpose into the state and city. One out of three Alaskans said yes to an option on their Permanent Fund Dividend application to donate $5 to the Anchorage Organizing Committee. Two out of three Anchorage voters said yes to an advisory vote on whether the city should pursue the Olympics.”
Chalmers’ hall-of-fame moment occurred when he hit a jump shot with 2.1 seconds left in the title game against Memphis, which led to the game going into overtime and a 75-68 Kansas victory.
“The former Alaska prep player of the year out of Bartlett High finished the game with 18 points and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player,” the hall of fame’s release states. “He averaged 15 points in six tournament games and was selected All-Final Four. Mario’s Miracle defined Chalmers for the rest of his life. The moment is memorialized in the form of a gigantic, three-story-tall mural in downtown Kansas City.”
The April 14, 2008, cover of Sports Illustrated shows Mario Chalmers hitting a 3-point shot for Kansas with time running out in regulation in the 2008 NCAA basketball title game, sending the game into overtime and resulting in an eventual win for his team.
Juneau inductees into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame are former MLB pitcher Chad Bentz, NBA forward Carlos Boozer and World Cup alpine ski racer Hilary Lindh.
Among the previous moments honored by the hall are the first ascent of Denai in 1913 (and first winter ascent in 1967), the Special Olympics World Games coming to Anchorage in 2001, and Michaela Hutchison becoming the first girl in the U.S. to win a state high school championship against boys in the 2006 state wrestling championships.
“The moments that get inducted into the Hall of Fame are the times that have resonated historically,” Robinson said. “Mario’s shot and Anchorage’s Olympic bid are very different types of moments but both of them evoke a ton of pride for Alaskans to this day.”
Upon enshrinement, inductee portraits are displayed at the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Gallery at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, according to the organization.
Selections for the hall of fame are made by a nine-member selection panel consisting of sports administrators and media members who each complete a ballot, and cumulative votes from the public and living inductees are aggregated into one ballot each. Among the panel members is Juneau Empire reporter Klas Stolpe.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
