On one side of the courtroom was Jan Smith, a state public defender in the Miami area. On the other side, Pat Dray, a prosecutor.

The two were working against each another one day more than a decade ago. Little did they know that they shared a common interest.

“We found out we both played hockey,” Smith said, “and we had a spot on the team, which was going to become the Whale.”

Dray joined the team, and “we've been best friends ever since,” Smith said.

“Even in court, we’re on opposite sides of each other, he asked me to play and I played,” said Dray, who is now a criminal defense lawyer.

Smith and Dray are two longtime members of the Whale, which plays in the adult league at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Smith, 43, founded the Whale — a name derived from the Whalers since Smith is a native of Connecticut — in 1997, and Dray, 49, joined on a short time later. The Whale has a core group of about five players who have been around since the inception of the team. A number of the other teammates have been on the team for eight-plus years.

The team includes an interesting dynamic of two school teachers, a couple financial analysts, three officers from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and three criminal defense lawyers.

“We get a lot of kicks in the locker room going back and forth,” said Smith, who is now a federal public defender in U.S. District Court.

With so many returning players year after year, turnover is very low on the Whale. The guys like it that way. When they have to recruit a new player, guidelines to join the team are pretty strict.

“We won’t just take anybody on the team,” Dray said. “We don’t really care about your hockey skills; it’s nice if you’ve got skills, but more importantly for us you’ve got to be a good guy.”

“We want people who play hard, play well, but at the same time know this is a weekly activity,” Smith said. “What keeps it together is we compete hard on the ice, but we all laugh at ourselves, laugh at each other. We don’t take it into the locker room after games. Everybody’s just out there to have a good time.”

The guys have a great time playing on the same team.

“They’re just good guys, they really are,” Dray said. “We all like to play hockey, naturally, and they’re funny. Everyone’s got a good sense of humor. It’s a great locker room, cohesive.”

A couple years ago, the Whale — which competes in the B division of their league — added a second team to play in the C division.

“One of the big reasons we created the C team is, No. 1, the guys who were getting older and not really able to compete as the B league became more competitive,” Smith said. “No. 2, that would open up some spots for some really deserving people who we wanted to bring in that we didn’t have room for.”

Smith moved to the Whale C last year, but also still plays on the B squad. Dray — who played in the Maccabi Games in 2013, helping the U.S. hockey team beat heavily-favored Canada for the gold medal — is still going strong as the captain and oldest player on the B team.

Since the guys on the Whale have played together for so long, they know each other’s tendencies on the ice.

“We know where we’re supposed to be, and that guy’s not going to be there because he’s a slow skater. It’s more that way,” Dray joked. “There is chemistry.”

All the guys are tight off the ice, too, and enjoy spending time together. It’s not usual for the teammates to go to a Florida Panthers game or throw a postgame barbeque in the rink parking lot.

“I always joke around: we go play hockey for an hour and then after it’s a three-hour socializing event,” Dray said.

The Whale players also have a connection to a local T-shirt design company and get free shirts and sweatshirts with their team logo on it.

“We joke that we’re more of a social organization and a brand name more than we are hockey players,” Smith said.

The Whale players celebrate holidays together with their families, attend each other’s weddings and have been there for the births of teammates’ kids. The guys have also been there through hard times with family-related deaths and financial issues.

“We’ve been through it all together,” Smith said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.