Larry Leet spent more than half of his lifetime smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.
Today, nearly four years since giving up his smoking addiction, the 56-year-old Leet gets his fix on the ice.
Instead of smokes, Leet can’t get enough of hockey, a sport he admittedly knew nothing – nor cared anything about – four years ago.
“I was a 35-year smoker,” Leet concedes as he laces up his skates at the ShoWare Center, where he took part this week Seattle Thunderbird Coach Rob Sumner’s Hockey Camp. “I quit, and on my 1-year anniversary, a co-worker of mine said he was interested in hockey and that he didn’t want to get into it alone.”
Leet didn’t know quite what he was in for on that day in 2006.
On Tuesday night, Leet skated out to the ice as the oldest player among a handful of campers taking part in the adult age group of a clinic hosted by the Seattle Thunderbirds. And as was clear for all to see, hockey has taken hold of the 56-year-old.
“I was not a fan of hockey before and I knew nothing about it,” said Leet, who wasn’t involved in sports growing up and found televised sporting events “boring.” “Now, I play hockey three times a week.”
Leet’s passion for the puck was evident during Sumner’s camp at ShoWare earlier this week. The camp was broken down into four age brackets (6-8, 9-10, 11-12 and the adult group, which was 18 and older).
Leet was the oldest camper of all — and also one of the most enthusiastic.
“Larry is so into it,” T-birds coach Sumner said. “He has a lot of questions — and good questions, too. And I love to talk hockey, so we seem to get along very well.
“I’ve done adult camps before, and it’s always fun because the people who sign up really want to be here,” Sumner continued. “They really love hockey and want to improve. They want to learn new things and talk hockey.”
Since taking up the sport four years ago, little has kept Leet away from the sport.
Not even a broken leg, an injury he suffered on the ice.
“I was just standing around watching somebody else take a lesson. I had been skating for an hour and was tired and just fell down,” Leet recalled of how he broke his right leg three years ago. “When I got to the doctor, I asked them, ‘Is there a way to cast it with a skate on?’”
Now, the sport is as much about staying in shape for Leet as it is a way to bond with his 24-year-old son, Chris.
“It’s a really fun thing to be able to do together,” said Chris, who was pulled into the sport by his father. “Right now, the only thing I really have on him is his speed, but everything else … he practices a lot harder than I do. He has better stick handling than I do and, skating itself, technically, he’s a lot better than I am.”
By day, Larry Leet is the chief boiler inspector for the City of Seattle.
Hockey, however, has taken hold of his nights. Along with the camp held at the ShoWare Center, Leet also is a member of the Squids hockey club, which is part of the Greater Seattle Hockey League.
The way Leet figures it, hockey, rough and tumble as it is, has no age boundaries.
Even for those in their mid-50s.
“I get a lot of exercise and a lot of camaraderie with the teams,” he said. “I’ve gotten to know how the game works. Now, when I watch a WHL (Western Hockey League) game, I can figure out ‘Oh, well, that’s what they’re doing. Otherwise, it looks like a bunch of bumble bees swarming around the puck.
“This is a hoot and a holler.”
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