Through the years, at least 15 Hawaii youth hockey players have gone on to play at the club level or better in college.
Io Keehu, a goaltender who works as a Honolulu Police Department lieutenant, played for UNLV in the 1990s.
Keehu currently plays in the top division at the Kapolei Inline Hockey Arenas and the Ice Palace. He started playing at age 15 in the Mililani Inline Hockey Association.
Keehu’s UNLV Rebels team made it to the national semifinals in 1997, but lost to the University of California-Santa Barbara in the championship game.
Io Keehu, warming up during a UNLV club inline hockey game in 1997. (Photo courtesy of Io Keehu).
“It was a great experience for an island boy to make his mark on mainland hockey at a national club level,” Keehu said. “Coming from outdoor basketball courts turned into makeshift rinks to indoor hockey arenas was a huge step up.
Io Keehu made an arm save (the puck is near the post) during an AAU inline hockey tournament at KIHA in 2019.
“I was able to gain a ton of experience playing against others from around the country and Canada. And I was able to bring that knowledge and experience home to Hawaii after five years of living in the mainland. I highly recommend all our island hockey youth to broaden their horizons as they get older and have ambition to play and succeed on the mainland.”
Watch Io Keehu, in UNLV’s white and red jersey, playing in a win over UCSB in 1997. The Rebels went on to the national championship game and lost to Saddleback.
Keehu is also the host of the “Hawaii Real” podcast that continues to grow.
Io Keehu interviews life coach Vince Abramo in Episode 19 of his “Hawaii Real” podcast.
A bunch of other Hawaii youth hockey veterans laced up the skates in college, including the Sussman brothers — Keegan (Purdue) and Logan (UNLV) — and the Barros siblings — Ben and Hannah (Lindenwood).
Some Hawaii players have seen action at the NCAA Division III level in ice hockey, including Zach Pamaylaon and Spencer Zaha, and some have made the junior hockey ranks — Pamaylaon and Lance Hamilton.
Ben Barros, in his Lindenwood days.
(Photo from LindenwoodLions.com).
Hannah Barros played at Lindenwood.
(Photo from LindenwoodLions.com)
on the list, grew up playing in the Mililani
Inline Hockey Association.
(Photo from LindenwoodLions.com).
The Ice Palace opened in 1982 and remains a popular place for hockey players (closed temporarily now, due to COVID-19).
Outdoor inline hockey took off in the early 1990s on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island and the sport got a big boost when KIHA — a state of the art, two-rink facility — opened in 2010. KIHA is about to open again March 1 after nearly a year of being closed because of COVID-19.
Below is a list of Hawaii youth players who have moved on to college, high school or junior hockey. If you know anyone who should also be on this list or if something is not correct about the list, email Nick Abramo at [email protected].
Ice (NCAA Division I)
>> Linda Desruisseaux (Northeastern)
Ice (junior, various levels)
>> Caleb Campbell (unknown team)
>> Lance Hamilton (Elmira Junior Enforcers, Tier 3)
>> Thierry Nguepdjo (Eugene Thunder)
>> Zach Pamaylaon (Philadelphia Revolution, Tier 3)
>> Cydnee Somera (Boston Shamrocks, JWHL)
>> Trent Takeuchi (Eugene Thunder)
>> Stephen Vitek (team in Michigan, unknown)
Ice (NCAA Division III)
>> Grant Matsushita (Salve Regina)
>> Zach Pamaylaon (Bryn Athyn)
>> Andrew Vitek (Bethel College JV)
>> Spencer Zaha (Buffalo State)
Ice (club)
>> Lindsey Dymond (Colorado State)
>> Grant Matsushita (Pepperdine)
>> Cydnee Somera (Union College)
Inline (club)
>> Jason Asato (UNLV)
>> Ben Barros (Lindenwood)
>> Hannah Barros (Lindenwood)
>> Micah Chun (UNLV)
>> Linsdey Dymond (Colorado State)
>> Eric Fujikawa (Purdue)
>> Io Keehu (UNLV)
>> Emerson Lau (UNLV)
>> Jaden Nahoi-Baricar (Arizona State)
>> Andy Oda (Maryland)
>> Matt Quesada (Lindenwood and Colorado State)
>> Keegan Sussman (Purdue)
>> Logan Sussman (UNLV)
>> Hans Suyderhoud (Saint Louis University JV)
>> Matt Suyderhoud (Saint Louis University JV and varsity)
Ice (high school boarding school)
>> Frank Orrell (Avon Old Farms)
>> Devon Wilson (Avon Old Farms)
>> Ryan Wilson (Avon Old Farms)
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ALSO AT NICKABRAMO.COM: Kapolei Inline Hockey Arenas Grads Are Off To College And New Horizons
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Editor’s note: This story was updated Feb. 24, 2021, with lots of new names of players who went on to the college ranks.
