U.S. Marshals Hockey: Honoring our Fallen on the Ice

Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The U.S. Marshals (USMS) Hockey Team is used to taking shots. They take one every time they pursue a fugitive, step into a courtroom, or protect a judge. They took their first shot when they chose to become one of the few selected from thousands who apply to be Deputy U.S. Marshals.

In an agency full of rough-and-tumble men and women, a select few decided it’s a good idea to lace up skates, grab a stick, and willingly subject themselves to being slammed, full speed into boards, bodies, and ice. They do it on their own time and on their own dime, sometimes traveling thousands of miles to face teams from other federal and local agencies.

In 2012, Deputy U.S. Marshal Steven Solomon proposed forming a USMS hockey team after playing with the D.C. police hockey team before joining the Marshals. He noticed teams representing the FBI, Secret Service, and DEA. He believed the Marshals needed representation on the ice as well. It took time to gauge interest and secure approval from agency leadership, but later that year the team was formally established — with one stipulation: all travel and entry fees would be privately funded.

Solomon led the team for several years before eventually passing the torch. “Hockey is hard on the body,” he says.

With players spread across the country, regular practices are nearly impossible, and they certainly don’t win every game they play. But winning isn’t the point.

“It’s for the love of the game and the love of the guys we play with. We’re willing to shell out a couple hundred bucks here and there to play hockey for a weekend,” said Alex Shepherd, a current co-captain. Shepherd joined the team in 2016 while working as a contractor for the USMS before becoming a deputy. He wasn’t sure he’d be welcome.

“I emailed Steve and said, ‘Hey, I’m a contractor, but I’d love to play hockey with you guys”, Shepherd continued. “He wrote back, ‘Come on out.”

“A lot of us play in organized leagues locally — I’d say about 75% of the team,” said Mark Fialkiewicz, another co-captain and one of the original members. “A couple of our guys only play when they’re with us, and that’s fine. We don’t really care. We’re there to have fun, and we all compete as hard as we can. But we don’t get much chance to practice together. We’re just too spread out.”

In April of 2024, Deputy U.S. Marshal Tommy Weeks — a founding member of the team — was killed while serving a warrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Like everyone who knew him, the loss hit the team hard.

Tommy’s love of hockey ran deep. At his 2025 memorial service, nearly half of the attendees wore hockey jerseys in his honor. His teammates followed suit. Since his death, the team has added a No. 19 patch (Weeks’ number) to their jerseys and hangs a banner bearing his number behind the bench at every game.

“Tommy embodied everything a deputy and a hockey player should strive to be,” Shepherd said. “He loved his job, and he loved playing hockey, probably a little more than his job. He’s always with us. We’re not just playing for the Marshals Service, we’re playing for Tommy.”

“Playing for Tommy” evolved into the first, and hopefully annual, Weeks Memorial Classic, a game against Customs and Border Protection out of JFK airport.

“They saw our posts online and realized Tommy had been a CBP officer in Charlotte before joining the Marshals,” Fialkiewicz said. “They reached out, and we set up a game in Long Island last year at their home rink.”

To support the United States Marshals Survivors Benefit Fund, the team created commemorative coins featuring Weeks’ jersey on one side and the team logo on the other. Combined with raffles and commemorative hockey pucks, the team raised more than $7,000 at the inaugural event. The next Classic is planned for August 2026.

Fialkiewicz, who has played with the same local team for more than 20 years, says wearing the Marshals jersey carries special meaning.

“It means a lot to put on those colors, that red, white, and blue, and come together with a group of men and women who do the same job every day,” he said. “That camaraderie is second to none.”

The team is always looking for new players. Given the nature of law enforcement work, it’s nearly impossible to field the same roster at every tournament. Anyone interested can contact Fialkiewicz, Shepherd or Nate Neath, the team’s three captains, for more information.

Why do they do it?

Because they love the game.

They do it for the fellowship, the competition and the challenge.

Just like on the job, they know the only way to win is to take the shot.

And sometimes, they do it for Tommy.