piha vs. mlrh

[herbearsfan26]

to me this title is a joke...why are people trying to fight over which league is better, plain and simple piha is established, theyve had 7 seasons, mlrh has no schedule, they have 5 teams listed on there website, my question is why dosent everybody start working together. now this is my opinion here, since piha uses more private owned rinks and these rinks are smaller, and less attendance space, this could be a professional minor league, ex:echl/ahl...since it seems like mlrh wants to go the root of rhi, and actually have a salary for players, and sounds like they want to use actual arenas, and draw a bigger fan base, this could be the major league, ex:nhl...then if it does work, the major league club could have a minor league club that it pays money into for travel and what not...only catch is a player dosent make salary until the major league...all i know is nothing is going to prevail if all everyone is going to do is fight over which league is better, which league is more pro...there is so much talent out there that nobody knows about, i myself am nothing speacil, but i realized when i was in high school that i would never get to play in professional ice hockey, ill never get to play in front of a big crowd, but now with the development of roller hockey in general, im realizing that it might be possible for me to play the game i love at a professional level. i might not get paid for it, but atleast ill be doing somethin ive always dreamed of. so in my opinion, instead of fighting whos better, lets try to make this a legit pro sport.

[Ironman Sports]

I have limited experience with both leagues as an owner & GM. Please accept my viewpoint is from just one season in each. The two leagues are not comparable.

MLRH is smoke & mirrors. All flash and no real league substance. The MLRH may have a place in inline hockey by drawing non-inline money & fans to the sport. I'm not putting it down. It just follows the fake-it-til-you-make-it concept. I hope it makes it. I'll watch some games.

PIHA attempted to be the real competitive league for inline hockey. The league inline hockey kids would want to play in when they grow up. If the league was operated by the owners I believe it would be the future of inline hockey. Again, I'm limited in experience.

I did not grow up in inline hockey. I took an interest in the sport when my kids joined a house league at ages 9 & 10. My interest developed primarily through coaching youth travel. I do not have the experience that the well-respected individuals that typically post here have. I can only imagine that others will do as I will, follow the people they respect and trust. If the key people go AIHL, many teams will follow. All leagues will have growing pains. Success will depend on how the league responds to those pains, as it will show the true intent of the people in charge.

I rarely get time to contribute on IHC. I apologize if I don't reply quickly. Good luck to all involved in inline hockey. I hope all efforts will grow the sport.

[herbearsfan26]

thank you for responding its nice to hear a responce that is 2 sided.

to me it seems like no one can get a league going that really takes off, i mean the public interest is there, if you look at ice hockey, nhl partnered up wiht the ahl to give a minor league system, then the echl partnered with the ahl...to me its a ladder...and to me it seems like if everyone would put aside there differenses, we could really have somethin speacil. i played under charlie, hes an amazing coach, and really knows the game, inside and out. i know he knows what hes doing, its just gonna take time for people to see it, and i think everyone wants it right now, but its gonna take time. i hope everything works out for the better of the sport.

[GoRangrHky]

Nothing personal, but rather than starting this thread again, just browse through some of the posts that have already been made. This subject has been gone over and over and over and overrrrr countless times. Take a read of what has been posted in the past.

[herbearsfan26]

i know, sorry, i just thought this was kinda different cause it was talking about both leagues, which all the others were the 2 leagues against each other.

[nyrhatric]

Just my 2 cents.

If MLRH wouldn't have turned into a good league, would most of the players rather play full contact hockey? I for one, love the idea of full contact hockey. I played MLRH for a couple of seasons, and when the team chose to go to PIHA, that's what I did. I think full contact hockey just adds to the excitement.

And for what its worth, I think Charlie has always been a leader in the sport and will continue to be. Where ever he goes, people will follow. He'll find a solution to some of the problems PIHA had this year.

I personaly am kinda excited for this EURO Cup. One, to get to see some of these European players. PIHA International turned into PIHA National. I know Boston, DC, and Michigan seemed to have signed on. I don't know how they plan on formatting the pro-season or how many teams they will have, but for this Euro Cup, I think it looks pretty good so far.


Bobby Henry

[dan sangiorgio]

i too like the concept of full contact roller hockey, i never really heard of it till it was pretty much defunct. if mlrh could get on the same level of piha as far as organizational skills you might see more people inclined to play in a league with hitting. it could also draw more of crowd. one potential drawback to playing a full contact league is the goon factor, most of the people i know who had played in the old mlrh said it turned into a goon league with the fighting and hitting becoming more important then the hockey game. also if your not getting paid, is the risk of getting hurt worth the extra excitement the hitting adds. because from i see most non-ice players never learned to throw a hit the right way most use there stick or hit from behind in dangerous situations without thinking. if this is the case staying with piha might better because the product people would see would be much more fun to watch then people just trying to hurt guys. even if it gets the sterotype of a league for players who afraid of contact.

[Inline_Burl]

The three American Teams will be in the 2009 Full Pro League and there will be many more teams added before that season starts (alteast 9)

[Inline_Burl]

I believe the Idea for 2009 MLRH Pro will be to set it up like the "A" Pro Hockey like the EPHL and MAHL setting up teams in arena with atleast 1000 seats