Thoughts on Speed Hockey

I have spoken to some of the principals involved with Speed Hockey in the past. I have not shared the details of what I was told because I was asked not to. My impressions of the sport and how it's being developed is that I don't think they're looking to take over traditional roller hockey. I think Speed Hockey will be a compliment to traditional roller hockey; something different enough where some people will want to play both and has been mentioned, the rink set-up is such that a full-size rink can be easily converted to host two Speed Hockey rinks side-by-side. They have some heavy hitters involved so I'm sure their chances for success are pretty good.

Benny Gulakiw
President
Inline Hockey America

Hi Benny,

I think you are correct. There is room for more than one vision of a professional league, and I think Speed Hockey will complement your league, PIHA, MLRH, etc. Seems to me like the sport is heating up again, and that's great news for all of us.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

I agree, there's room for more than one. I also believe that there will be various leagues like this until one of them finally gets that elusive TV deal and then players from all of the other leagues will probably jump ship to play in the league that will be considered "bigger and better" because it got a deal. Until that happens, hopefully all of the leagues will continue to grow the popularity of the sport.

We can't stop until Inline Hockey is a Summer Olympic sport...haha...who knows it may happen sooner then expected.

I'm a little concerned with the recessed goals. Sounds like a good way for the goalie to jam their leg into the boards. This will probably take a little while for the goalies and skaters to adjust to.

I wonder what the reason is for having recessed goals. Is it just to be different?

I think it's to prevent the practice of teams retreating behind the net to "slow things down" a la Narch Pro - also see the discussion in collegiate hockey in this forum from earlier this spring about the Premier League Championship game between Lindewood and Michigan.

I believe they want to bill the sport of "speed hockey" as the fastest team sport in the world, so anything that would lead to strategies that slow the game down are being removed or modified.

Hopefully it can happen within the next 15 years... at least. ^_^

It does sound like it could be a problem. but if it is, I am sure they will modify it before it really gets going.

Oh, ok that makes sense now. It would take away from the slowing down techniques, which I am sure all of us have down in a game from time to time. lol

Benny,
Not sure if you receive the trade paper Hockey Business News or not but this months has a great article on Speed Hockey and its future plans... I am going to try and scan it onto the computer I can e-mail it to you if you don't have the magazine and you can read it...

What is the name of the magazine, The manufactures hockey news?

It's Hockey Business News. They did a big spread on MLRH last season.

Hi NLane,

Right. The publication was created by Mark Brown, the founder of Roller Hockey Magazine, when I was the editor of RHM. It's nice to know something created for our sport back then is still alive!

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

The Publication is called Hockey Business News... Its owned by the Hockey News... Not sure if you can get it on the news stand or not... Its free to those who work in sports management i believe... That's how I get it...

rlrhky13, can you email me the scan of the article too? Thanks