Alev Kelter, Brandon Dubinsky named to Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Olympic Rugby bronze medalist Alev Kelter and 13-year NHL veteran Brandon Dubinsky became the latest members of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, the organization announced Tuesday.

Also part of the 2025 Induction Class will be two iconic Alaska sports moments: Mario Chalmers’ game-saving shot for Kansas in the 2008 NCAA National Championship and Anchorage winning the American bid to host the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Alev Kelter

Kelter, of Eagle River, had an Alaska Sports Hall of Fame resume before she all but engraved her name in the plaque at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, her third Summer Olympics appearance.

A multi-sport star, Kelter was a premiere soccer (a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in girls soccer), flag football, and hockey player on the boys team at Chugiak High School.

After winning gold at the 2009 IIHF World Women’s U18 Hockey Championships, she took her talents to the University of Wisconsin where she became a two-way athlete for both the Badgers women’s soccer (Second-team All-Big Ten) and hockey programs (NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team) from 2009-2013.

In 2014, she was convinced to give the sport of rugby a try, which is where her Hall of Fame-worthy career began to round out. By 2015, she won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Rugby Sevens Team.

By 2016, she represented the U.S. and Alaska at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she was the number one scorer and the first American woman to ever score a try in the Olympic Games.

Just months after neck surgery, she made her second Olympic appearance at the 2020 Games in Tokyo where the U.S. went undefeated in pool play before placing sixth overall.

In 2024, she helped Team USA make history by winning bronze in a historic finish over Australia, with Kelter leading the way in points in Paris. She is the first American woman in World Rugby Sevens Series history to reach the 1,000-point career mark.

Kelter had a special homecoming in Alaska after returning from Olympic glory, hosting a rugby clinic, appearing at a Chugiak High School assembly, and taking part in a deep-end fitness class.

Brandon Dubinsky

Brandon Dubinsky is one of the state’s most prolific hockey players at the highest level in the sport. Growing up in Anchorage, Dubinsky skated for Alaska All Stars and Service High School before joining the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winter Hawks at 16 years old.

Selected in the second round of the 2004 NHL Draft (60th overall) by the New York Rangers, Dubinksy made his NHL debut in 2006-07, playing in six games before a strong rookie campaign the following season when he tallied 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points in 82 games.

Throughout a 13-year NHL career, Dubinsky compiled 153 goals and 285 assists for 438 points in 823 career regular-season games between six seasons with the Rangers and seven with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Including playoffs, his totals reach 163-301 in 881 games.

Among Alaskans, Dubinsky ranks second in goals scored, assists, points and third in seasons played after a wrist injury ended his career in 2019. He returned to his home state to play for the Alaska Aces during the 2012-13 NHL Lockout, where he tallied 16 points in 17 games.

Mario Chalmers’ Game-Saving Shot

Former Bartlett High School standout Mario Chalmers’ made his name known on the national stage during Kansas’ 2008 March Madness run.

Trailing by three points to Memphis with less than 10 seconds to go in the national championship game, Chalmers took a handoff from the wing, took one dribble towards the top of the key, rose, and drilled the game-tying three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to send the game to overtime. Kansas ultimately won the national championship 75-68 over Memphis in overtime, with Chalmers contributing 18 points in the victory.

“It’ll probably be the biggest shot ever made in Kansas history,” Kansas coach Bill Self said at the time.

Anchorage Named America’s Choice to host 1992 Winter Olympics

In June 1985, the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Anchorage as its bid city to host the 1992 Winter Olympics.

While those Games were ultimately awarded to Albertville, France, the nomination and the campaigning effort behind it proved that Anchorage and Alaska were willing and able to host a major winter sporting event.

The Class of 2025 is expected to be officially inducted in April, with portraits displayed at the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Gallery at the Ted Stevens International Airport. This will be the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame’s 17th induction class, with Allie Ostrander, Dallas Seavey, and Bobby Hill being enshrined last year.

Disclaimer: Sports Director Jordan Rodenberger is a member of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame selection committee.

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