When an injury ended Kellen Pulera’s 2017-18 hockey season prematurely, the St. Joe’s forward announced his retirement from the sport he’d been playing almost his entire life. He knew he had a future in lacrosse and didn’t want to hurt his chances by risking another injury.
But after committing to Marist College in September 2018, Pulera began to rethink his hockey retirement and changed his mind the week before tryouts. He helped lead his team to a 2019 Catholic State Championship and won MVP in the final game of his competitive hockey career. Pulera followed that up with a record-breaking lacrosse season that ended with a Monsignor Martin Championship and state championship appearance.
Pulera still remembers his first time on the ice. He was just 2 years old when his dad put skates on his feet and told him to skate.
“I can remember the time after one of my dad’s bar league games, he strapped my skates on and made me skate from his bench to the locker room door, and that’s the earliest memory I have,” Pulera said. “And then I’ve always played hockey my entire life. It’s been in my blood.”
Pulera was sidelined around Christmas 2017 (he still participated in this video), and he started to consider his future and what the best move would be. Reluctantly, Pulera announced the end of his hockey career.
“I knew lacrosse was my number one sport, and I knew my best chance of playing a college sport was through lacrosse,” Pulera explained. “I could not afford another injury and be out for my season because I wasn’t committed yet.”
Pulera’s lacrosse career didn’t begin until the modified level at Amherst Middle School, but right away he knew he had something special.
“Ever since modified, I really fell in love with the game,” Pulera said. “It was so similar to hockey, and I was always mediocre at hockey, but when I was on the lacrosse field, I knew I had that extra step on everybody. I was a step behind in hockey; lacrosse I was above, and I just sort of took off with it and didn’t look back.”
Pulera transferred to St. Joe’s for his high school career, and he said it’s the best decision he’s made. He credits St. Joe’s lacrosse coach Peter Hudecki, along with the rest of the coaching staff, for the player he is today and his mental approach to lacrosse.
“Coach Hudecki did so much for me,” Pulera said. “He helped out so much. He made me a great player. Coach (Jon) Curry, Coach (Chris) Goss, Coach (Colin) Bathory, Coach (Mike) Farrell — they all molded my mind in the right way to play and what to do and what not to do, so it really helped a lot.”
Pulera’s first contact with Marist College was through an assistant coach who coached a summer showcase tournament Pulera participated in. He knew of other local players who’d graduated from Marist, such as Connor Fields and Adam DiMillo, who both attended Timon.
When a friend committed to Marist, Pulera thought, “Dude, it’s meant to be,” and extended an invitation to the Marist coaches to come watch him play. They attended three of Pulera’s 2018 games, including traveling to Penn Yan, and Pulera went on his official visit in August. Marist offered Pulera a spot in September, and he didn’t hesitate.
“I fell in love with the campus, everything about it, and I just knew I could see myself there the next four years,” Pulera said. “This year, they clinched first place in the MAAC going into the tournament. I want to win a MAAC championship and I want to go to the NCAA tournament. I wanna play against those top of the top teams and put the name out there.”
Marist defeated Canisius College, 11-10, and Quinnipiac University, 15-14, before falling to UMBC, 14-8, in the NCAA tournament this year.
With his lacrosse commitment taken care of, Pulera’s thoughts turned back to hockey and how much he already missed it. He’d played with some of his St. Joe’s teammates for several years, and he knew he brought a special presence to the ice.
“I knew I was gonna miss hockey,” Pulera said. “When I committed to Marist to play lacrosse, that’s when I was thinking, ‘I already announced my retirement, but it’s probably gonna be worth it.’ All my friends play, I’ve known these kids forever playing hockey. Four years together. Senior year. I gotta do it.”
The week before tryouts, Pulera reached out to St. Joe’s hockey coach Rich Crozier.
“It was sort of up in the air and then a week before tryouts, I texted him, I was like, ‘Hey, I’m going this year, I’m playing,’” Pulera explained. “Teammates were definitely all hyped up because they love when I’m out on the ice with them. Coach Crow was definitely happy because he’s always said that I bring this certain attitude and motive to the team that no other player can bring, probably because of my physical dominance out there. I do play the body a lot and I get the boys going with that.”
Pulera was part of a St. Joe’s team that finished the season 23-2-2 and ended the year in the best way possible — a Catholic State Championship with a 9-1 win over Fordham Prep. Pulera’s two goals in the game earned him MVP honors, and even he was surprised by his performance.
“I happened to score the first two goals of the game out of nowhere,” Pulera said. “I haven’t scored two goals in a game since like mite, and I happened to do it in my last ever game. It was something special. I really cherish that moment.”
His last competitive hockey game had its share of emotions, even in the practices leading up to that day. Pulera got into an argument with his coaches in the last practice before states as he admitted his emotions got the best of him. After working through those issues, Pulera channeled his emotions into motivation in the state championship game.
“I think my emotions started to get to me, like, wow, I’m never gonna play this again,” Pulera said. “During practice, we weren’t doing what I thought we should be doing, and I voiced it and sort of went to war real quick. Then we talked it out through practice, forgot everything, restarted, and then came to the rink and it was lights out. I was able to overcome everything and I think I worked harder in that game than I ever had before because I knew it would be my last game.”
Pulera found after the season that he still couldn’t say goodbye to hockey so easily, and he can be found playing adult league hockey at Northtown Center this summer with a few fellow St. Joe’s alumni.
“It really clicks that, wow, I’ll never shoot in a competitive hockey game again,” Pulera said. “Bar league’s one thing — I’m actually playing this summer because I can’t get rid of hockey that quickly.”
But with spring came lacrosse, and St. Joe’s once again proved to be a dominant force. The Marauders started by defeating top-ranked Rochester teams, broke the Monsignor Martin record for consecutive league wins, and finished the season with a Monsignor Martin Championship with a 16-2 win against Canisius. Pulera finished the 2019 season with 62 goals and 25 assists (85 points) for the year and 200 goals and 75 assists (275 points) for his career. His career point total broke a school record; the previous career points record was 221.
He scored three goals and recorded two assists in the championship game, and his behind-the-back goal made SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays of the Night, coming in at No. 3. Pulera won MVP of the championship game, and he was named to the MMHSAA All-Catholic First Team, as well as being named an All-American and Academic All-American.