ice/inline article

[STEMM]

I found this cool article comparing ice to inline that I wanted to share...
www.maddogshockey.com/ice_hockey_talks.html

[RichardGraham]

Hi STEMM,

Thanks for posting this -- it's a fascinating article and makes its point very strongly.

[quick_dry]

something that keeps getting mentioned (and I can attest to it as well), is that inline tournaments seem to have more social interaction between the teams than ice hockey tournies do.

Why does it seem that way? (or why is that, we're not playing it for sh*ts n giggles, on the rink it is just as serious and competitive) Do we play in better locations that are more conducive to it?

[EagleBC]

A few possible reasons inline tournaments have a different 'feel' than ice hockey tournaments:

1. Ice hockey coaches tend to be very strict with their players, itineraries. Inline is more laid back. Coaches on ice will have their players pretty regimented and not leave any time for their players to interact with other teams.

2. Ice rinks are cold. Most people don't spend a great deal of time hanging out watching games after they've finished playing.

3. Sponsor booths: Guitar Hero, Rock Band, NHL 2K8, etc. Players from different teams hang around all day long. Not too many ice tournaments have anything like this going on during the tournaments.

4. Inline = All the different ages playing in the same tourney. Ice tourneys tend to be only 1 age group....players don't have the older groups and 'pro' divisions that make many people hang around and watch.

There's probably many other reasons, but this is a few I came up with quickly.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Scott,

Great list. In interviews I've been doing for my RHI book, I'm constantly told of the camaraderie shared by the players in the league -- many of them tell me that they hang out with RHI friends much more often than with their old ice hockey teammates.

[STEMM]

EagleBC you make some good points, but #2 seems more like an excuse, many Ice rinks have viewing area outside of the rink were you can still watch the games.

on #3
...my 10 year old son is a first year ice player (leading goal scorer), so we haven't been to many ice tournaments yet, but I have yet to see any sponsor booths, the first tournament he played in, my son and I both were like "this is weird, it's dead in lobby" Even at the regional roller tournaments here in St. Louis there is always at least one sponsor booth. Is that normal not to have sponser boths at ice tournaments ?

[EagleBC]

Stemm,

I agree #2 may seem like an excuse. To be honest, I don't know if that's a reason some people don't hang around the rinks. But I do know that many rinks in Canada don't have heated viewing areas, especially the older rinks that are up here.

Sponsor booths: not too common at ice tournaments up here either. Usually the tournaments will have the 50/50 and raffle tables full of baskets that parents have put together for prizes to help raise money.

Guitar Hero at an ice tourney - not a chance. Xbox - no way.

The question then becomes, are they necessary at an ice tournament?
Bauer, RBK, CCM are all pretty big and well known among the ice world. I don't think they really worry about sending their reps out to all the different tourneys out there, when they can instead spend their money on NHL and Junior players/teams. Slapping RBK all over Sidney Crosby probably gets them more exposure than showing up at the BC Provincial Championships.

Roller we don't have that luxury of having the high profile players, leagues at that level. It makes sense for Mission, Tour, Revision, etc., to show up at NARCh, get the top roller kids pumped about their product so that they go back to their home rinks talking about all the cool new gear.

One other factor that I think is important to consider, is the sheer size of the roller tournaments. NARCh Finals 400+ teams, Winternats 100+ teams, TORHS 200+ teams, State Wars 200+ teams. The volume of teams from all over North America, plus other international teams, creates a WOW factor that I don't think can be matched by very many ice tournaments. Maybe the Quebec Peewee tournament comes closest. It's pretty awesome to walk into Germain Arena at almost any time during Finals and see a team playing that you may never have seen before. Cool uniforms, fancy equipment....pretty impressive stuff.

Ice tourneys tend to be much smaller. 25 team tourneys are considered BIG. Uniforms are almost always some knockoff of NHL teams. Not too exciting in comparison to what the roller guys do.

As I mentioned previously, there are probably lots more reasons why inline tourneys have a different 'feel' than ice.