NO matter what you may think, a National Hockey League exhibition in Hawaii is much more than a refrigerated pipe dream. NHL could go
outdoors in HawaiiEven though the league and its local backers have conceded it can't happen this year, the idea is far from dead in the NHL's New York offices.
That was made pretty clear in a recent letter from Frank Nakano, NHL director of International Marketing Asian/Pacific, to Hawaii Prince Hotel manager Ted McAneeley (former NHL player), and in a telephone interview I did with Steve Petros, NHL Director of Business Affairs, yesterday.
Both league officials said they want to see an exhibition and/or a training camp take place here in September 1999. And they are now focusing on doing it outdoors.
Yes, outdoors.
An outdoor exhibition between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers was played in Las Vegas with a portable rink.
The league insists that the same technology could be used to make it work right here.
"If the local parties are truly interested, we would love to discuss (it) in greater detail," said Nakano in his letter to McAneeley, who has worked with the NHL hierarchy.
Concert promoter Tom Moffatt said he's very interested and wants to know more about how the league thinks it could create an ice rink outdoors here.
"We would lay down piping sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum," said Petros. "We would use two refrigeration systems with powerful compressors on either end of the rink to keep it extra cold."
Five days to put up the rink with the boards, glass, boxes, and benches surrounding it. Two days to make the ice.
"It's an expensive proposition but we can do it," said Petros.
Rental fee for the portable rink would be about $520,000.
PETROS said the cost of bringing the NHL to Hawaii (rink, players, coaches, staff) could be shared by the league office, the clubs, and the local promoter.
How about the state?
Aloha Stadium is the venue favored by the league. Moffatt said smaller Rainbow Stadium might provide something closer to the intimacy of a NHL venue. But Petros believes there are ways to turn Aloha Stadium into an acceptable hockey facility for one weekend.
Sounds strange, doesn't it?
(Can't you just see a stray slapshot knocking out the Jumbotron? Or Na Leo doing a back flip at center ice while singing the national anthem? )
But the NHL found a way to make the Alamo Dome suitable for a game, so my money is on the league.
UH and prep football? Might be a problem.
Might force it into Rainbow Stadium after all.
INDOOR sites have been ruled out because Hawaii does not have one that could accommodate an NHL-sized 185x85-foot rink and a NHL-sized crowd (12,000-14,000). Sad commentary on the short-sightedness of the agencies that commissioned the building of the Blaisdell Arena and Stan Sheriff Center.
The Ice Palace has the rink but seats only 500.
Petros said the Ice Palace could, however, serve as a training venue for a West Coast team like the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Mighty Ducks or Los Angeles Kings in the week leading up to the weekend exhibition games.
The NHL seems willing to break even on the deal to get a foothold in Hawaii -- a foothold that might insure annual league visits.
Heck, why not? It's already doing that in Japan.
At the very least, high-speed, rib-cage-rattling NHL hockey might be a nice diversion from University of Hawaii football. Might be just the right pill.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.