Hahahahaha. The laugh is probably going to be on me.
There haven’t been many sports going on, eh? Well, there were two pickup inline hockey outings on Thursday and Friday at the Kamiloiki Park rink in Hawaii Kai.
There’s this “old guy” who plays who says things like, “All right, the Stanley Cup is on the line.” It’s geared, he says, to get people’s competitive spirit going.
Well, on Thursday, the Good Guys, wearing white, split the first two games with the competition. And in the third game — led by Scott Vaughn’s goaltending and Shawn Hibbard’s five goals — they closed out the series with a 5-0 victory. The Stanley Cup was ours.
The “old guy” also keeps count, and not only that, when his team is winning, after a goal, he’ll say, “It’s 4-3, the Good Guys!!”
We figured the Thursday outing was going to be the last one for a while because also on that day Gov. Ige announced a shutdown of parks, effective Saturday, due to a large surge in COVID-19 cases recently.
But hockey guys — being who they are — decided to come out again to Kamiloiki on Friday. Can’t beat the fresh air and the exercise, right?
Oh boy. Another Stanley Cup. This time, the Good Guys wore dark. And in the final contest of the day as night approached, they broke a 5-all tie with three straight goals for an 8-5 victory. This time Zach Pamaylaon — who is home briefly before heading back to Pennsylvania to start his senior year of ice hockey at NCAA Division III Bryn Athyn — was the catalyst.
One notable player, Xavi Fajardo, the only kid — a fourth grader — continues to improve and stay in shape while league hockey (at Kapolei Inline Hockey Arenas ) is on hold. Xavi always has the best answer of “yes” to the following questions:
>> Are you a hockey player?
>> Do you love hockey?
>> Do you want to fight?
He actually put up his glove and pointed at the “old guy” on Friday, when challenged.
Xavi is a rink rat, and rink rats usually are the ones who go far in the sport. His uncle, Marcus Fajardo, lives in Spain and plays inline hockey professionally there
He was over here on Oahu for a few months recently, putting in some pickup days to stay in shape.
Xavi’s dad, Marty Fajardo, was on the Good Guys on Thursday, but not on Friday. He’s got speed, as does his Friday teammate Trip Rems, but as the old guy kept reminding both of them all day, “You have nothing (today).”
All in the spirit of friendly gamesmanship.
And what was that about the laugh going to be on me? Well, that’s because I’m writing about PICKUP HOCKEY!!! That’s funny. So, go ahead and laugh. It’s fine.
Normally, at this time of year, I would be preparing to go out and watch and write about the second real week of high school football games.
Whew. Pickup hockey is much easier. I don’t have to take stats and stay up late on deadline.
And I get to write about my friends. Certainly, it won’t be must-read material for everybody who subscribes — or maybe it won’t be must-read material for anybody at all.
But as a lifelong hockey player, I have an obligation to promote my sport. If you haven’t picked up a hockey stick, you should. It’s fun and it’s addicting.
There will be more local hockey stories here in the future, just hopefully not a lot of pick-up game material.
There’s some high-level hockey being played at KIHA and at the Ice Palace and some of these players from the Hawaii hockey community deserve some pub … for no other reason than, well, this website is a vehicle for that kind of stuff. Even more simply: because I can.
Hockey can grow in Hawaii. There can be high school hockey here some day. The right people would need to come together to get it done. One perfect place to start is with some of the smaller private schools. If done right, it could grow and grow and grow and become part of the fabric of our state and not merely a niche sport.
On Kauai, Maui, the Big Island, Mililani and Hawaii Kai in the 1990s, there were bustling youth inline hockey programs — as there are now in Kapolei and on Maui. But the sport’s numbers have dwindled here, especially on Kauai and the Big Island — but it can be revived.
This site can help. All sports will be covered, but four (football, surfing, wrestling and hockey) will be the focus. So, if you are a Hawaii hockey player or reader, I would like to ask you to think about subscribing. It’s free.
Who else made it out Thursday and/or Friday? There were Ryan Downey, Aaron Pamaylaon, Timo Budow, Tyler Dias, Jake Johnson, Ryan Donohue, Aaron Ing, Larry (new to the group; last name Bird, for now), and Wayne (new to the group; last name Campbell, for now).
And since I have your attention (I think), click here to see a news release sent out by the county when the Kamiloiki rink opened in 2002.
Look for inline hockey championship game coverage here when real games begin.
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ALSO AT NICKABRAMO.COM: Plans Call For New Aloha Stadium To Open In September 2023
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