Hockey Fever Contagious In Eichners’ Ewa Household

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Ewa Beach resident Stephen Eichner has spent his professional life building surfboards, but there’s no question within his household what the sport of choice is. Inline hockey has gradually taken over.

Indeed, the father of six finally is consumed by hockey fever, after taking up the sport himself six weeks ago. He and wife Louise’s children - Kirsten, 21; Natalie, 19; Ryan, 17; Rachel, 13; Travis, 11; and Joshua, 8 - all play inline hockey.

“Technically, we should be more of a surf family,” laughed Eichner, who owns and operates Eichner Glossing in Kaneohe.

It’s not unusual for parents to mentor their kids in sports, but when it comes to inline hockey, he is the newcomer, and 8-year-old Joshua is quick to let him know it.

“He tells me every day, he owns me,” Eichner said. “I didn’t have a clue when I played my first game, and the kids were laughing pretty hard. They teach me to do different things, but I can still out-surf them any day.”

Humor aside, Hawaii’s “first family” of inline hockey has found the sport to be a great outlet and yet another common interest that draws them closer together.

It all began with Ryan, who began playing at age 10. While inline hockey can be pricey (the family estimates it spends $4,000 a year on equipment, tournament and league fees and occasional travel), the combination of skill, speed and smarts involved at a high level make the sport a “healthy choice.”

When Richard Pentecost’s Kapolei Inline Hockey Arena opened several weeks ago, the Eichners were among the families who stood to benefit the most. For years, they traveled to Mililani to play on the outdoor rink, which is well-kept but hardly the state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled palace that KIHA is.

In fact, the oldest of the children, Kirsten, had given her equipment away to her younger siblings because her work schedule made it difficult for her to play in leagues.

“I thought, ‘I need to get back into this and buy some new equipment,’” she said. “The rink is usually open when I am at work, but I still try to free skate with them (siblings) on my days off. It’s been a fun family event for us. We’ve made a lot of great friends. We’ve been blessed by it.”

Added Louise: “For the children to have a rink so close, it was like a dream come true. It keeps them out of trouble, and it’s a beautiful, clean and safe environment. It also teaches discipline and character along with being safe. Well, relatively safe. Rachel did break her elbow and her wrists in separate incidents.”

Not that an injury could keep her off of the rink.

“It’s fast, and it’s on skates,” said Rachel. “I plan to play for awhile since they have adult leagues now. It’s fun to pass and get an assist and score goals. I’m more of a defense man, but I still score goals sometimes.”

Travis is among the more competitive in the family. He recently drove his team, the Rebel Rousers, across the finish line in their regional qualifying championship game victory in the 10-and-under division, scoring four goals, including the game-winner. The Rebel Rousers made up a two-goal deficit with 2:30 remaining, helping Travis win Most Valuable Player honors in his age group along the way.

“I like everything about it,” he said. “I liked it right away. I like when I score and the crowd cheers.”

In Travis, Joshua has found a mentor. “I like watching my brother play - he’s pretty good,” said Joshua, who began the sport nine months ago.

Next month, both boys will go to San Jose with the family for the Narch Inline Hockey Finals, and they’ll travel in style. Louise and the children plan to fly to Nevada to pick up their RV, which is being stored at her father-inlaw’s house. From there, they drive to California for the tournament and live right at the hockey facility inside the RV during the festivities. Dad Stephen will join the family in California.

The RV is fully loaded, with kitchen, bathroom, microwave and television, among other modern-day necessities. (The family has visited 35 states in it to date, in large part because Natalie is a competitive motorcycle racer.)

After the Narch tourney, the family will vacation in Yosemite National Park and “do some tourist things,” according to Louise.

It goes without saying that the RV also has room to store plenty of hockey equipment.