NHL and NARCH join up

[MDE3 0]

The NHL and North american Roller Hockey Chmpionships(NARCH) announced a new partnership to help recognise and promote the sport of inline hockey in North America...

This could certainly have some long term benfits for both parties...lending needed credence to the sport of inline hockey and helping to swell the number of it's participants. This should also help somewhat in bridging the long standing credibility gap between ice hockey and inline hockey.

This should have the long term effect of creating a larger "hockey knowledgable fan base" for the sport of hockey in general. It has been long recognised that media hockey fans do not come from the general audience, but from players and their families who have some knowledge of the game. This effort on the part of the NHL and Narch should provide benefits long term for both sides of the partnership.

[Chadd 916]

Sounds neat, will fans in Chicago be able to watch the games?

[illpaseo116 0]

maybe they'll experiment with roller hockey on tv.

I miss old school cali -beach ball hockey on espn, lol.

[Shorthanded67 0]

The Pro Beach Hockey was fun to watch but you had to take it with a grain of salt. On the other hand, I long for the days of RHI (Roller Hockey International) on ESPN2.

[Eazy_b97 1]

I'm hoping it provides some uniformity among leagues. At least for some consistancy and somewhere to aspire to. I'd love to see a true "top" inline league on a regular basis.

[jnicklo 0]

Maybe their egos wont be as big as the NHL players ;)

It'd be great if we got to see Roller Hockey on ESPN2, I doubt we'll ever see it on ESPN though. At least not with Basketball and Football being so heavily favored over Ice Hockey.

[illpaseo116 0]

speaking of that beach hockey they used to have, I remember there being one league on one of the espn channels, and a little while later a new series emerged, don't know if it was the same league or not, but they had those "ramps" behind the net...like the boards behind the redline were a mini vert-ramp or whatever the hell they're called. anyone remember that?!?

[GekigangarIII 0]

Heck, we're lucky to see ice hockey on espn/2 in the last 2 years...

[jnicklo 0]

yep....sad isn't it?

I bet if people of more "culture" played Hockey it'd be all over TV.....

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

I bet if people of more "culture" played Hockey it'd be all over TV.....

When hockey is an affordable sport in this country, then it will.

[stevoc 0]

Could it be my idea may come true??? (nah, I'll keep dreamin') :D

nhl roller teams

[Neo5370 132]

I bet if people of more "culture" played Hockey it'd be all over TV.....

When hockey is an affordable sport in this country, then it will.

Amen.

Equipement and ice time................only things keeping it back.

[Chadd 916]

I bet if people of more "culture" played Hockey it'd be all over TV.....

When hockey is an affordable sport in this country, then it will.

Amen.

Equipement and ice time................only things keeping it back.

and both are getting worse, making the cost to enter the sport a larger barrier.

[GekigangarIII 0]

Sweet avatar JR..

[HackeyNoob 0]

Expense is pretty much the main reason I had to stick with roller. Our rink had a promising start but our "seasons" had jumped from 300 dollars to 800 for pretty much the same amount of ice time. I called the other day about public skating time and they said it was $10.00. These are hour sessions. Seems pretty bad to me. Our rink is on the brink of a meltdown though and our roller league has a lot more participation

[jnicklo 0]

Seeing as I played on a Paintball team for 4 years....I find Hockey to be cheap. LOL

[stevoc 0]

Seeing as I played on a Paintball team for 4 years....I find Hockey to be cheap. LOL

Amen! I spent tons of dough on paintballs alone, not to mention all the other gear that you need. ;)

[MDE3 0]

A few days before this NHL/Narch announcement , USA Hockey's new inline development director, announced the new focus for USA Hockey inline....

Developing league play between rinks..a la ice hockey..so more local opportunities to play without as much extended travel, or enitre weekends spent at a tournament.

Secondly a focus on tournament levels geared to true "club" teams as opposed to "all-star" teams formed just to compete at the tournament. While there would still be an "open division" for this style of team, they would have two divisions geared specifically to club teams who play and practice as a team in their local venues all year.

Thirdly..focusing on training seminars and coaching programs to raise the levels of coaching aptitude, and thus help provide better youth training clinics for the ankle benders....who are the foundation of the future of the sport. Training that would parellel that of ice hockey.

These two announcements back to back, bode well for the future of the sport of inline hockey. I think that the perception has become clear to the ice hockey community, that inline hockey is perhaps the best platform to get new players into the sport of hockey, in any of its forms, in the warmer climates.

Street and casual roller hockey, is in fact the "pond hockey" of the warmer climates.

[phantoms19 0]

speaking of that beach hockey they used to have, I remember there being one league on one of the espn channels, and a little while later a new series emerged, don't know if it was the same league or not, but they had those "ramps" behind the net...like the boards behind the redline were a mini vert-ramp or whatever the hell they're called. anyone remember that?!?

Pro Beach Hockey

[Chupacabraz214 0]

Everybody go to nhl.com

[#1STUD 0]

Were those some of the top teams at there? I kinda figure they were. Just the play looked a bit slow too me. Maybe it was the fact it was on video. I will say that the senior division looked a better than the other.

[illpaseo116 0]

yeah those were the top dogs

[Fletch 219]

Were those some of the top teams at there? I kinda figure they were. Just the play looked a bit slow too me. Maybe it was the fact it was on video. I will say that the senior division looked a better than the other.

When you're playing with and against those guys, they don't seem slow...trust me :)

[MDE3 0]

The style of play you are watching...which is widely used in Narch play....is generally credited to the Tour Mucats....where they slow the play down and the "quarterback" regroups behind the net, the forwards cycle just below mid rink or deeper and then they try to hit a long breakout pass, or relay pass.

This has been a very successfull system for a long time, but makes the game much more boring to watch on camera. It has been taken to such extremes at times that some inline hockey organizations have passed rules preventing holding the puck essentially motionless, calling for it to be kept moving at all times.

This issue came to a head a few years ago in the CRHL Premier League Championship game between MSU and Lindenwood college out of St. Louis. With the lead, Lindenwood held the puck for long long periods behind the net, challenging MSU to chase them out, it was so bad that MSU considered protesting the game.

The problem with this is that some teams have a true mismatch in speed, and if they can hit the right player in full stride, with a good breakout pass, there is no stopping the opportunity.

Where there are offsides and full contact, the game is played much tighter physically, and this system is nowhere near as effective. Because the team breaking out can no longer pass across the center redline, it makes the breakout passes more predictable, and easier to cover.

[MDE3 0]

yeah those were the top dogs

Actually the Senior division was the Gold Championship game....Platinum is considered the top level. The D1 game was Platinum, , but I believe there were a lot of Lindenwood players on the St. Louis team, who use the system I mentioned above. Hence the game would tend to appear slower.

There is no doubt that with regular inline rules, this system is very effective, with the right players, it just becomes less exciting to watch I feel.