Roller strategy without a goalie?

[SickBoy 0]

Barring a last-minute find, it looks like my roller team is going to be without a goalie for tonight's game.

How do your teams play with the extra skater? Do you typically hang the guy back near the net to try to block shots, which is what's typically done by teams in our league, who pretty much always get destroyed? Or do you move him up front, to pressure harder in the other team's zone, hopefully making it tougher for them to even get out of their end? Or something else?

I've never had to deal with it for roller, only ice. The whole no-icing, etc makes it a little tougher to figure out.

[reyno2ac 0]

I think you're pretty much screwed if there is no icing because they can shoot it at the net all night long...

To answer your question I think it may be better to put him in the zone and try to keep the puck down there. Just play three people at the point and clog the neutral zone to hopefully thwart their attempts to get a decent shot on net.

[Griff 2]

Personally I'd play it just like an ice hockey 2 1 2 forecheck with 2 guys on the puck carrier at all times. Make them work to beat you. High tempo high pressure

[nickyb13 9]

we always played it with 3 forwards but we spread out and played a puck possession game the whole time.

[Okeetee 0]

My teams have had to play sans goalie for roller. We usually hang one guy back at all times. When the puck is leaving our zone he'll start to creep out to our blue line and when we're in the offensive zone he'll creep to center. But when we're in our zone he's pretty much in net unless the puck goes behind the net (in which one of us covers the slot). So our 5th man is always the last guy back and makes plays only when it's safe.

There seems to be an unwritten rule in our league at least in which a team shooting against another team without a goalie won't take shots from everywhere, especially slappers. Seems like most of the guys in my leagues can't control their slap shots and they usually fly by around eye-level.

Of course it's an unwritten rule and not everyone follows it.

[Bender 0]

I've never had to deal with it for roller, only ice. The whole no-icing, etc makes it a little tougher to figure out.

I'm begining to realise the rolloer league I play in is a bit of an exception more and more, we play with offsides as well as icing...

What happens in our league is pretty much as Okeetee discribed. If how your trying it isn't working just change it round till you find something that does.

Good luck!

[mrusse01 0]

There's not a whole lot of strategy you can employ. If you are playing a team that's even roughly the same level as you, you're gonna lose.

I've played a few roller games without a goalie, I think once or twice we were tied or even up 1 going into the second half, but when it gets down to it, the other team will just start shooting from anywhere, and it's pretty much impossible to stop.

[doodman 0]

use your extra skater as a forward and pressure the puck

its like a permanent power play making it harder for the other team to score

Ive played a number of games without a goalie and the above is the only way ive ever won

ps curious where you playing at?

[mrusse01 0]

You can keep like 80% posession, but you need lots of skaters to keep up pressure. If one guy gets beat once it's probably a goal against, if you have a single bad change it's probably a goal against, if they get a couple lucky icings that are on net, it's a goal, any clean faceoff loss is a potential goal against.

Like I said, if you can beat a team without a goalie, you shouldn't be playing that team in the first place.

[AWE46M3 0]

I've never played in a roller league, that I can recall, which allowed you to start a game without an actual goalie... That being said I would imagine it would be pretty boring for the team you play against to play a team without a goalie so maybe you have a chance... haha I know I probably wouldnt even bother to play if I knew the other team had no goalie.

Also, if the other team thinks like Al Iafrate's you may be in luck...

[wickedlite44 0]

I've actually done this very same thing and won 8-2. We played a 2-2-1. Hold the puck until they start chasing you then break out hard through the neutral zone. DO NOT force anything and make passing your best friend. In my case we only had 5 players total, no subs and no goalie. Good luck!

[Law Goalie 147]

Suggestion: get everyone in the league to chip in $5 to buy a cheap set of used goalie gear to loan out in prevention of exactly this situation. If it's league-run, the gear probably won't disappear because they'd just bill the team that didn't return it.

[shute 4]

lock the other team in their locker rooms always does the trick, auto win when the other team doesn't show up goalie or no goalie... B)

[SickBoy 0]

Thanks for the replies, guys. We actually ended up having a goalie... sort of. One of our skaters used to play goal a few years back, but hasn't done it for a while. We thought he wasn't going to make the game, found out at the last minute that he could, but he showed up to the rink while we were out warming up. So he came into the game cold, not having stopped a puck in years :D

The other team's goalie ended up not making the game either, but they were able to get a guy from the next division up fill in for them. We still only lost by 1.

The plan was to put the extra guy up front and pressure as much as we could, it just seemed to make more sense. I was glad to hear that was the overall consensus here, too. Luckily, we didn't have to find out how it would've worked out..

ps curious where you playing at?

I'm in LA, playing both roller & ice at the Toyota Center, the Kings' practice facility.

[phunky_monkey 6]

If we've ever not had a goalie then a player just gears up and plays in net. We'd never play without a goalie I don't think

[Okeetee 0]

I'm in LA, playing both roller & ice at the Toyota Center, the Kings' practice facility.

Nice. I play there, too.

[SickBoy 0]

Ah, cool. Great facility, I just wish it wasn't quite so expensive <_<

Roller's not bad, but the ice is $$$, especially when only 1 ref shows up, and there's no one there to run the clock.

[Okeetee 0]

Ah, cool. Great facility, I just wish it wasn't quite so expensive <_<

Roller's not bad, but the ice is $$$, especially when only 1 ref shows up, and there's no one there to run the clock.

What ice and/or roller leagues do you play in?

[piersurf 0]

I'm in LA, playing both roller & ice at the Toyota Center, the Kings' practice facility.

Nice. I play there, too.

Nice, I play inline there as well. Sunday I play in Silver B and Monay's Bronze A. My silver team recently played against a team without a goalie and we lost! They had a guy stay in net most of the game and we weren't taking slappers.

[Okeetee 0]

I'm in LA, playing both roller & ice at the Toyota Center, the Kings' practice facility.

Nice. I play there, too.

Nice, I play inline there as well. Sunday I play in Silver B and Monay's Bronze A. My silver team recently played against a team without a goalie and we lost! They had a guy stay in net most of the game and we weren't taking slappers.

How funny because I play in both of those leagues and my Silver B team has played twice without a goalie and won each time.

Reveal yourself!