At ‘the Whale,’ the Hockey Club Builds Skills—and Community

Around 8:30 p.m. every Wednesday, dozens of SOM students and their partners file into Ingalls Rink on Sachem Street.

The rink, designed by the architect Eero Saarinen and colloquially known as “the Whale” for its unusual shape, is home to Yale’s varsity hockey teams and one of SOM’s most enduring traditions: the Hockey Club. Here, expert hockey players and newcomers to the game alike gather to improve their skills, enjoy themselves, and compete.

“It’s a place where you can get away from recruiting and homework and just have fun with your friends,” says Nick Mahoney ’26, one of this year’s hockey captains. Where else, he asks, “can you convince your 20-something friends to try a new sport that is often not that approachable?”

The Hockey Club is one of the school’s largest student-run groups. Around 20% of MBA students participate, and the club has amassed an alumni community of well over a thousand. In keeping with Yale SOM’s supportive ethos, it’s designed to include players of all skill levels. Some players have wielded hockey sticks for years; many are learning how to skate for the first time. At the start of each practice, players self-sort into beginning, intermediate, and advanced groups for drills. Each practice ends with scrimmages, where players compete within their own skill level.

“The hockey club really embodies the best of SOM culture,” says Austin Smith ’26, who joined the club as a first-time player. “Whether I’m on the ice or in the classroom, I feel confident taking a risk. I know that even if I fall—which is often—someone will be there to help me up.”

The Hockey Club is even open to those with no interest in playing at all. In addition to those lacing up their skates every week, dozens of others gather in the stands to “boost,” a tradition that involves a combination of cheering, catching up with friends, and sharing food and drinks afterwards. This off-ice community is known as the Boosters Society.

On a typical night, 20 or 30 people will show up to boost, says Umar Qureshi ’26. During events or games, that number can climb to 80 or more. Last year, he and his classmate Ivan Alarcon ’26 got to know each other on the walk from their apartments on Whitney Avenue to Ingalls Rink. Today, they’re close friends and Boosters Society co-captains.

“I made one of my best friends through Boosters, and plenty of others too,” Qureshi says. “It’s just a really great social activity.”

Students and their partners are equally welcome on the ice—and, at times, difficult to distinguish. “I was skating with this guy the whole year before realizing he wasn’t in the program,” says Smith.

As a first-year, Smith played while his partner, Nina Bourgeois, boosted. This season, they’re on the ice together. For Bourgeois, the club has been a meaningful way to feel part of the SOM community.

“My biggest fear coming into Yale was, am I going to make friends? What’s the MBA experience going to be like for me?” she says. Through Hockey Club, she’s connected with students and other partners. Falling on the ice together, she adds, is a surefire path to friendship. “And when else are you going to get to join a hockey league with your partner?”

For students like Smith, the club also provides a chance to strengthen friendships outside the classroom. “It’s a small enough program that you know most people,” Smith said. “But hockey is another touchpoint to connect with someone, especially classmates you don’t get to see very often.”

For both the club and the broader SOM community, the Harvard Business School vs. Yale SOM hockey game—which occurs annually before the football game between the two schools—is a highly anticipated event.

Last year, when the HBS hosted the game in Boston, “our crowd section was as big as Harvard’s, and as excited,” Mahoney said. SOM’s goalie was a first-time skater who, according to Mahoney, drew the loudest cheers of the night.

Of the many traditions that have come to define the Hockey Club, the intramural Garstka Cup is perhaps the most beloved. The competition between the first- and second-years is named for Stanley Garstka, professor in the practice emeritus of management and the school’s longtime deputy dean.

“Of course, there is the Stanley Cup in real hockey,” Garstka said. “They decided it would be appropriate, given my first name, to name it the Garstka Cup.” For nearly a decade, Garstka ceremonially opened the game by dropping the puck.

When ice time ends on Wednesday nights, Hockey Club members troop from Ingalls Rink to a local bar—lately, Trinity on Orange Street. The post-practice ritual provides time to unwind, recount funny moments on the ice, and celebrate everyone’s progress.

“Without question, Hockey Club is one of my favorite parts of SOM,” Mahoney says. “And I think it’s the biggest club on campus for a reason. People have a lot of fun.”