SPORT REPORT

L. A. waiters--they act, they sing, they dance, they do stand-up. Some of them even serve food. But at Brandon’s Restaurant at the Iceoplex skating complex in North Hills, the waiters can deliver something not generally available at local eateries--a full-body cross-check into the boards.

Kelly Martin, a 21-year-old psychology major at Cal State Northridge, started waiting tables at Brandon’s in April, when the Iceoplex--replete with figure skating and hockey instruction for all ages, public skating sessions and even a skate shop--opened to boffo business. Though athletic, Martin had never skated, but restaurant manager Rick Borowitz and waiter Pascal Goyet quickly enticed her and several other waitresses onto the ice in the wee hours after the restaurant closed.

The waitresses soon became the rarest of rarae aves : Southern California women who play ice hockey. Wielding hockey sticks and taking puck-handling pointers from Borowitz and Goyet, they often join Iceoplex pickup games, which, for safety and insurance reasons, have to be played in full protective gear. The matches have become almost nightly affairs at the rink, and the action is fierce.

“At first we were kind of playing nice,” says Martin, “but then it got rougher and rougher. Some of these guys have been playing since they were 4. They’re really excellent, so try going anywhere near the puck . . . . But they’ve been careful with us around.”