DEAF HOCKEY PLAYERS ENERGIZE TEAM.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer

VALENCIA -- Sometimes when the whistle blows, Trey Wilson keeps skating.

On one occasion during a hockey game last season, Wilson kept going after his team had already been called for being offside, thinking he scored a goal.

Wilson is among four members of the Valencia Vipers hockey team who are deaf.

Wilson, center Casey Riffle, wing Brian van Vlyman and assistant coach Jason Kitchin communicate exclusively by sign language.

``The ref called (the goal) back and gave me a penalty,'' Wilson said of the incident through a translator. ``It was really hard.''

All are members of the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association.

The AHIHA was founded in the early 1970s by Stan Mikita, who played in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks.

They play for a Vipers team that competes in the Jr. B Western States Hockey League -- the highest level of amateur hockey played in California.

The Vipers will open their season Sunday when they play host to the San Diego Surf at 10:25 a.m.

Wilson, Riffle, van Vlyman and Kitchin also play elite-level hockey for the hearing impaired at the national level.

Van Vlyman and Kitchin have qualified for the U.S. National team that will play in the 2007 Deaf Olympics in Salt Lake City on Feb. 1-10, 2007.

Wilson and Riffle qualified for the team as alternates.

``It's been a passion of mine since I was 7,'' said Kitchin, who at 21 is no longer eligible to play for the Vipers.

Wilson, who is from Riverside, started high school at California School for the Deaf of Riverside before transferring to Valencia because the school offers sign as a foreign language and is across the street from the Ice Station, allowing him to pursue his hockey aspirations.

Kitchin is from Santa Monica and van Vlyman from Simi Valley. Riffle is from suburban Chicago.

All have known each other from a camp run by Mikita's Hockey School for the Hearing Impaired for about six years.

Wilson, van Vlyman and Riffle are playing travel hockey with deaf teammates for the first time since any of them began playing travel hockey.

``It's a really, really, wonderful experience on the team because all my life I've played with hearing players,'' van Vlyman said. ``We have a big friendship.''

The three are among the team's quickest skaters. They play together on a line that's become an especially effective penalty-killing unit.

Vipers coach Larry Bruyere acknowledged that having deaf players on the team has created some communication issues.

He noted that their handicap makes them more visually oriented, a tremendous hockey asset.

``Their ability to see the ice is better than most players because they focus on that sense of being able to see,'' Bruyere said. ``They rely on that sense more than most players.''

Their work ethic and passion for the sport seems to have energized teammates.

``They're amazing, I have so much respect for them,'' Vipers forward Anthony Kendryna said.

``It gives me a lot of confidence. The fact that they can go out there and not be afraid of what's around them makes me confident.''

Wilson said playing with deaf teammates with whom it is easier for him to communicate has helped him improve his game.

He said all his Vipers teammates have made him feel welcome.

``The hearing players accept us on the team just like any normal person,'' Wilson said.

But communicating with deaf teammates has required everyone on the team to make adjustments.

``It's a different game with them out there, but they're a lot of fun to play with,'' Kendryna said. ``It's definitely a new experience.''

It is a challenge that all involved seem to relish.

``It doesn't really feel hard,'' van Vlyman said. ``It's all about playing hockey and having fun.''

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