JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Oahu Da Kine goalie Alex Brower stopped a shot by Mililani Jedi-Masters' Noely Nakasone during yesterday's regional tournament at Mililani's Kaomaaiku Park.

Da Kine finds
its own style

There are disadvantages to playing inline hockey in Hawaii.

The rinks are outdoors, with concrete surfaces instead of the faster, softer Sport Court used at high-level competitions, and chain-link fencing instead of Plexiglas around the perimeters.

There is always a chance of rain.

And traveling to an elite tournament -- as in other youth sports -- requires more than just a little gas money.

Then there is a matter of respect for the sport itself. Sanctioned by USA Hockey since 1994, inline hockey is now considered mainstream and the quality played in Hawaii is "definitely improving," said Jon Bourgeois, coordinator of event administration for USA Hockey InLine. "They are very competitive with the mainland teams. They represent themselves and Hawaii well."

Bourgeois is in Hawaii to oversee this weekend's regional tournament at Kaomaaiku Park in Mililani. It's one of 11 regionals that qualify teams for the national tournament, July 30-Aug. 6, in Voorhees, N.J.

Champions will be crowned today in five age-group divisions, from 8-under through 17-under. The top two teams in each division qualify for the Stars Division at the nationals, the others qualify for the Stripes Division.

Last season, Da Kine of Oahu won the national title in the 12-under Stripes Division after finishing third at the Hawaii regional. Although just one player -- John Whitty -- remains from that championship team, the goal remains the same: win it all.

But Da Kine wants to do even more. This year, they will be in the Stars Division thanks to an impressive showing in the regional.

Heading into today's championship against Kauai, Da Kine had outscored its three opponents by a combined 22-1. The lone goal against the Oahu team came in yesterday's 8-1 victory over the Mililani Jedi Masters when Noely Nakasone scored with 4:22 left in the first half to pull her team to within 2-1.

That was as close as it would get, with Da Kine going on a 6-0 run over the final 16 minutes to finish pool play undefeated. Da Kine outshot Kauai 33-8.

Whitty finished with four goals, including the first score 78 seconds into the match, and added an assist. Tony Pentecost added an assist and had two goals, the last coming during a faceoff in the left offensive zone, a play that coach Ken Larson set up during the preceding timeout.

"I practice it, but it usually doesn't work," said Pentecost, who just finished the sixth grade at Punahou School.

"We practice that shot all the time," said Larson, who grew up playing ice hockey in Minnesota. "This team has such good skills that they can pull it off.

"Last year, we were bigger. This is a real fast, quick team. The defense gets back faster, we have more than one player on a fast break. I think they can win it again, but it's going to take a lot of hard work."

Reserve goalie Alex Brower has extra motivation. She and her family are moving to Colorado after the tournament.

"Of course, I want to play as well as I can," said Brower, who recently finished eighth grade at Le Jardin Academy. "But I want to win because it's my last year in Hawaii."

Whitty, also an LJA student, said he was looking forward to traveling to New Jersey for the first time as well as trying to win another championship.

The tournament will be held at the Skate Zone, the Philadelphia Flyers' practice facility. There will be three rinks, all with the Sport Court surface that increases the speed of the puck and can be an advantage to quicker teams.

"We're going to play as hard as we can," said starting goalie Brandon Weinerth, a recent graduate of Lanikai Elementary. "I'm still mad about the one goal that went in."

Not much has gone wrong this weekend for Da Kine, a select team with players from all over Oahu. It's been the same for the tournament organizers.

The only complaint came from Friday's late games when players had a difficult time seeing the puck under the temporary lights. Last night's games used a pink puck that was easier to see.

"I've seen the quality improve every year," said Merl Yoshimoto, a USA Hockey league director and Hawaii liaison. "I've been involved since my son Brett played in 1996. When we first started coaching, we read books and watched hockey on TV. It's how we learned the game.

"We made an effort as a league to bring USA Hockey coaches down to run clinics. It's paid off. The coaches are better and the players are better."

Larson agrees.

"In the beginning, we didn't match up very well at the nationals," he said. "The kids were nervous, the sport wasn't very big in Hawaii. But now we're getting up to the level with the rest of the teams.

"We're moving up a division. We'll just have to work a little harder."