Since its opening last October, Ice in Paradise has been a cold-bed of activity. From morning until late at night, people practice all kinds of ice skating at the Goleta facility. On Tuesday nights, an exceptionally devoted clan plays in the Advanced Adult Hockey League.
Meet Michael Kenney. At age 6, he started playing street hockey with his feet after The Mighty Ducks movie came out. He helped start an ice hockey team at Westlake High, and after a hiatus, he took up the sport again in his twenties, playing at rinks in Oxnard and Simi Valley for teams named the Chiefs (homage to Slap Shot) and Eh! (homage to Canada). A Santa Barbara resident who works at the Four Seasons, he took it upon himself to form a hockey team at Ice in Paradise: the Santa Barbara Kings.
The L.A. Kings are Kenney’s favorite professional team. “They preach humility and work as a team,” he said. “They scored nine goals by nine different players the other night. Drew Doughty is the most passionate player I’ve ever seen.” Kenney outfitted his Kings with gray-and-black uniforms and a logo that appears like the NHL team’s but is altered to avoid copyright issues.