Wednesday, March 18, 1998

By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Grant Matsushita, left, Troy Tada battle for the puck
during a league game at the Ice Palace.

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Breaking the Ice

A player from Hawaii in the NHL?
With the growing popularity of youth leagues
and in-line skating, it could happen

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

Picture this: A boy raised in the subtropics, who went to school in rubber slippers and never owned a wool sweater, makes his debut in the National Hockey League.

Right now, that's about as likely as the Jamaican bobsledders winning a gold medal.

But thanks to some recent occurrences, that could someday become a reality.

The Ice Palace, Hawaii's only ice rink now and for the foreseeable future, has 90 players in a four-level youth program that began in 1994.

The development structure is similar to what is used on the mainland: Squirt (under 10), Pee Wee (ages 11-12), Bantam (13-14) and Midget (15-17).

Two youngsters who were born and raised here, and who learned to skate at the Halawa rink, have gone on to play prep hockey at the freshman level on the mainland.

Ryan Wilson, a Hawaii Kai resident, played JV hockey as a sophomore at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut. Frank Orrel, a former Star of the Sea (Kahala) eighth grader, was co-captain of the the freshman team at that school.

Kaimuki High graduate Spencer Zaha, now 26, played in seven games for NCAA Division III Buffalo (N.Y.) State College.

Kenny Choy, a 17-year-old Mililani resident, is an in-line skater who plays ice hockey in the men's and midget league (ages 15-17) at the Ice Palace.

He wants to go to the Community College of Rhode Island to play hockey. "Or anywhere that will take me," he said. "Some of the guys who've played say I could make it."

Another sign of the changing times: For the third straight year, youth teams from the Ice Palace will travel to the Great Pacific Forum in Surrey, British Columbia, for a spring break tournament. Ice Palace teams have won only once on the trip. They usually go up against more skilled players.

Former Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) player Ken Perel, who heads up the youth hockey program at the Ice Palace, predicts a "solid" Division I player will come out of Hawaii in the next decade.

NHL players visiting Maui during the Olympics for the opening of an in-line hockey rink, said the roller version of the sport could serve as a super highway to the ice for local youngsters.

"If these kids started in-line skating and in-line hockey at an early age, there is no reason why they could not make the next step," said San Jose Sharks forward Bernie Nicholls. "It's easier to ice skate than to in-line skate."

Luc Robitaille of the Los Angeles Kings cited the case of Richard Parks, a California youth and in-line skater who made the switch to the ice and is playing for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' organization.

There are 788 youth players in eight leagues registered for in-line hockey in Hawaii, and more are coming.

"In-line is a fantastic vehicle for our programs," Perel said. "Our youth ice hockey numbers have doubled with the influx of in-line players since November 1997."

Hawaii Prince Hotel manager Ted McAneeley, who once played in the NHL, said the infectious nature of in-line hockey gives local youngsters a chance to get their heads into the ice game.

"You start on in-line and that gets you the understanding and flow of hockey," McAneeley said. "The skills are the same: puck-handling, shooting. Once you experience that, then you can take it to the ice."

Checking is allowed in the midget division at the Ice Palace, and some youngsters get a rude awakening when they find they must stick-handle with their heads up.

Zaha recalls how difficult it was for him when he reached the college level.

"It was pretty painful the first time I was hit," said Zaha, who is out of school, but working to save money to return to classes on the West Coast. "The kids in Hawaii are not taught to play aggressive enough. This was a totally big jump for me."

Cost also might be a factor. Roger Graham, a Mililani High student who plays ice hockey, said it cost $500 to outfit himself.

But Robitaille said enthusiasm among local youngsters is high, and that encourages him.

"Nobody is pushing them here," he said. "In Canada, every parent pushes his kid to play. When you see that will to play the game they have here, it's special."