WOMEN'S LEAGUE: `IT'S OURS'.

Byline: Jarre Fees Daily News Staff Writer

On the sixth day, everything changes.

Five days a week the Blue Angels do what most modern American women do. They work full-time, pick up their kids, put away toys, do laundry, cook dinner, wash dishes, run the vacuum and collapse on the sofa.

Five days a week they belong to their families, their jobs, the world.

But for two short hours every Saturday, they are free of family matters, school or career worries, financial cares and what to do about dinner. The Blue Angels, members of the fledgling four-team Women's Ice Hockey League, head to the Ice Chalet in Panorama City and play hockey.

League organizer Leslie Angel, 37, started playing hockey three years ago after taking classes at a local rink. But she grew tired of driving to Anaheim to play on an all-women's team and contacted USA Hockey about forming a league in the San Fernando Valley.

Then came the problem of recruiting players.

``I had to pound the pavement,'' Angel said. ``It took a few months to do all the groundwork and get the word out. I went to practically every sporting goods store and hockey clinic in the Valley to leave fliers. And every time I was at an ice rink and saw a woman playing on a men's team I told her about the league.''

And there were Kings games. ``My boyfriend finally said, `Can't we just go to one Kings game without having to hand out fliers?' But if you get the word out, women will come,'' she said.

And come they did. Lori Fitch, who works for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, signed up right away. Attorney Diane Goodman and accountant Janet Sikiyan joined, as did high school students Darcy Utter and Lisa Niehaus.

French-Canadian sisters Marie-Helene Desbiens and Nathalie Desbiens added their names to the roster. Michele Hewitt and Lynz Morrison provided defensive skills, and Kelly O'Hara and Kelly Walsh added scoring punch, as well as penalty minutes.

According to USA Hockey, the governing body for amateurs of both sexes, overall female participation has increased 308 percent over the past seven years and the number of registered women's and girls' teams has increased 511 percent.

``The Olympics gave a lot of young girls ideas,'' said Angel, who owns a property management firm. ``When the U.S. women's team won the gold medal, girls were thinking they could be in the Olympics, or maybe they could get a college scholarship through women's sports.''

For most of the Blue Angels, dreaming of the Olympics is not an option - with the possible exception of rookie goaltender Niehaus, 17, who has four shutouts, a .947 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average, statistics that would put an NHL goalie in the financial stratosphere.

Many of the players also play in men's leagues, but most agree there's a bond here not found when they play with men.

``I think when we play with the men we get ignored a lot,'' Angel said. ``A lot of men are great, but some of them would rather lose the puck than give it to a woman.

``You're constantly trying to prove you're not invisible. With women you don't have to prove yourself. You're here, you exist. You can just play the game.''

``You can't take any vacations, though,'' said Marie-Helene Desbiens, who leads the league in scoring. ``There's no one to take your place if you're gone.''

The women are hoping to add one or two teams next season, but they know they're competing for players against in-line skating leagues. And the cost of playing ice hockey can be high.

Each player pays several hundred dollars to participate, which covers ice time and two referees for each game. There is a separate fee to join USA Hockey in addition to the $400 or so in equipment each player owns.

``Women's equipment costs more than men's,'' Fitch said. ``I finally bought boys' skates, they cost $100 less.''

``It's worth it, though,'' said Angel. ``Hockey's such a creative sport. There's so many things we get out of it that we don't get anywhere else.

``And when we do get it right it's the most exciting thing in the world. It's just a fleeting moment, but it's ours.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--2--Color) At top right, Blue Angels' Leslie Angel, right, and Lauri King work the ice. Above, Darcy Utter, at right, and Coeli Jones fight for the puck.

Gus Ruelas/Daily News