FIRS World Cup update

[MDE3]

For those of you not following on the FIRS official site: www.inlinehokej.cz/eng, the results of the preliminary rounds had Team Canada ranked 1'st, and Team USA second even though their records were USA 7-0, Canada 5-1.

So in the quarter finals Canada(first place due to goals against I guess)faced Spain(8th place after the prelims) whom they defeated 9-1, and the US(second place even though they were undefeated) faced Germany whom they defeated 7-2

Thar places Canada currently as 1st place in the semi's playing the 4th place team who will be the winner of the Italy Czechoslovakia contest(currently being played). Team USA with their 7 - 2 win over Germany will now play France (third place with their 4-2 win over Switzerland in the quarters)in the semi finals.

This could well set up a USA Canada final - if Team USA beats Team France and Team Canada defeats either Italy or Czechoslovakia in the semi's. But none of these games is a given, as Team Italy defeated Team Canada in the preliminaries, and Team France defeated Team Italy - so who knows?

Good luck to all in the Medal rounds on Sunday!!!

[columbus_RHstar]

Just wanted to let you know I appreciate the updates. Good luck to all the teams, but go USA!

Happy 4th everyone!

[sactosaxons]

I'll second that thanks for the updates - really do appreciate them. Keep it goin' USA!!!!!!

[MDE3]

Not too much change today except Canada plays Czech Rep.(who won in overtime yesterday 4-3 over Italy) and USA plays France - Gold and Bronze medals on Sunday. Go Team USA

[MDE3]

Nail Biter for Team Canada - down 3:1 to Czech Rep. in second period with about 12 minutes to go............

[MDE3]

Black day for Team Canada : losing 4:1 to Team Czech. Republic in Semi's - apparently it's not only on this side of the pond that they are playing Inline Hockey. Well I hope Mike Hunt mades some wheel sales lol.(maybe too many before the games lol)

[MDE3]

Wow - a squeeker for Team USA defeating France 5 - 4 in OT
Finals now Team USA versus Team Czech Rep. tomorrow. Guess who scored the go ahead goal in the second half, and finally the overtime winner to break a 4 : 4 tie for team USA? - CJ Yoder!!!

So much for North American "Dominance" in Inline Hockey(I guess this has been true already for a few years lol). First Canada loses to Italy and then Czech Rep., then France almost knocks off team USA. Should be a bang up rematch tomorrow between the USA and Czechoslovakia - where's the TV coverage when you need it??? And the Fins, Norwegians, and Russian Block countries aren't even playing in this Championship.

Good Luck Team USA

[rinkrat15]

Hey guys, well I agree whole heartedly on the rest of the world catching up to North America, The teams that played here were fantastic, My hats off to the czechs, they are a solid team that would dominate every pro team in north America.

They played a fantastic game againts us and deserved to win....

I think all the americans would agree as well, The teams over here can play the game and deserve our respect....They have certainly earned it...



National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[MDE3]

Hey thanks for the updates. Don't know if you are still around - but who scored the winning goal in overtime for Team USA? It's not listed on the website - was it a fluke goal scored by the Czechs on their own net after a face off and without a team USA Player touching the puck?

Well the website finally updated the scoresheet - winning goal: CJ Yoder after 19 minutes of overtime!!!!!!!!

Hope you can answer this.

Thanks

[MDE3]

Congratulations on "smoking" Team France for the Bronze - looked like some pride might have kicked in. That team almost put Team USA in the Bronze Medal round with you guys. Sorry you guys didn't make it to the Gold medal round. (As an ex-pat canuck I have divided loyalties)

Question - how many of these European teams are "padded with players from other countries? Some of the names on Team France have a distinct Quebecois "flavor" to them. And "Ingemar Gruber" does not have much of an Italian ring to it.........

[psfye]

I'm a french inline hockey player and I've been doing all the camps with Team France this year and I was the first forward back up. I wan't to make clear that every players from this team was born in France and have always play in France. We are all INLINE players and we don't play ice hockey. Three of us never put a foot on ice. But inline hockey is very organise in France and only one organisation is running everything so the best league (National 1) is playing with ALL the best players and 10 teams all over the country. We are playing exciting games from september to june and that's why the level is better every year. That's also why my friends were so close from a medal in Pisek. I think USA is not going in the right way because you're not able to organise the sport and it's sad cos you have good players and real good rinks (compare to us)....

[Superstar9]

he has a very good point, Ive come to notice recently that many and I mean MANY european countries have very organized and UNIFIED elite or pro leagues on like all the confusion here in the states.. they even get government funding for some of their pro teams to help bring in better players to build and teach the sport!! Thats awesome.. hopefully the states will follow suit shortly or we may see other nations pass us by w/ pro inline hockey contracts, tv deals, etc.

[MDE3]

Thanks for your reply and send congratulations to your teamates for playing such a great tournament. Glad to hear that the sport is so focussed and you are playing with all homegrown talent - was just curious - some of the names had more of a Quebecois ring to them to my ears, (I am from there) than homeland France.

As far as USA not being organized - well it's a problem with too many people trying to be the "organizer". The only good news is that there is still so much inline hockey played here that there is room for this confusion to exist and the sport continue to grow - not as efficiently as it could however.

Good luck at IIHF Inline if you guys are also playing in that World Cup Championship as well.

[TimeKeeper_CYMRU]

Question - how many of these European teams are "padded with players from other countries? Some of the names on Team France have a distinct Quebecois "flavor" to them. And "Ingemar Gruber" does not have much of an Italian ring to it.........

All teams were obliged by the rules of the tournament (see the FIRS website: <A HREF="http://www.rollersports.org" target="_new">http://www.rollersports.org</A>) to present a passport for each and every player and team official who attended the event.

Assuming that the rules were applied as equally to other teams as they were to Team Great Britain, then there would be no opportunity for 'ringers' to take part.
John.

[TimeKeeper_CYMRU]

Colleagues.

The IX FIRS World Championship was held in the town of Pisek, Czech Republic in the twelve days 26 June to 06 July.
<font color=blue>FIRS - Federation International Roller Sports, </font color=blue><A HREF="http://www.rollersports.org" target="_new">http://www.rollersports.org</A>

The venue
Pisek is a small town of with a population of about 30k, being about 110km (65 miles) south west of Prague. The Czech Republic is one element of the former Czechoslovakia.

The event was held in the local ice rink, with a ?Stilmat? floor replacing the more normal ice, I did ask what the spectator capacity of the rink was but no one I asked seemed to know.

On 13 August 2002, some 10 months prior to the event the centre of Pisek was inundated by a massive flood of the River Otava, there are a couple of pictures to be found at the following websites. I have further images of the effect of the flood upon the ice rink, both internal and external and am trying to obtain permission from the copyright holders to publish these pictures on some appropriate website.

<A HREF="http://archiv.radio.cz/povodne2002/pisek1.jpg " target="_new">http://archiv.radio.cz/povodne2002/pisek1.jpg </A>
<A HREF="http://www.cipisek.com/photo.html " target="_new">http://www.cipisek.com/photo.html </A>

It is indeed a credit to all concerned that the premises and the surrounding areas were reinstated so quickly.

The hockey:
15 Countries were represented, from four continents: The Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The organisation was very good, the games were played on time, the refereeing was (to my way of thinking) perfectly acceptable. OK, so there were missed calls, or were the incidents seen but ignored? Anyway, anyone who complains, should be invited to do a better job!

There was a mix of teams in attendance, from countries with both well developed and less developed inline hockey environments. The tournament rules were written in such a way that ?goals against? would be taken into account should any teams finish the group games with equal points. Therefore it was not necessary to amass giant score lines in the group games. With one notable exception, the better teams played to obtain a simple score advantage and then in general gave the lesser team an opportunity to benefit from playing against a better team. Accordingly it wasn?t easy for this layman to read anything of significance from the results tables of the group matches.

However when the quarter finals started the whole thing stepped up a gear or two, the games were superb, the sportsmanship was (generally) good. OK so there were the odd black sheep and a few roughing penalties were awarded. All in all, for someone from the UK without access to a local 60x30 ice (or roller) rink, the money spent on travel and accommodation for this event was a good investment.

The FINAL
<font color=red>What a privilege it was to be in the arena!</font color=red>

I am assured by a number of locals that the rink was fuller on this occasion than it ever is for any ice hockey match. Czech Television covered the match ?Live Time? I counted at least six cameras at rinkside alone, there may have been more, plus those up in the gods. There were three (maybe four) other TV crews in attendance.

At half time the score was 1:2, 6m18 into the second period Team Czech equalise, and the atmosphere in the stadium is electric. The quality of the play on the blue floor was at times more akin to ice hockey on wheels rather than to non-checking inline hockey.

Period three is Golden Goal overtime, then at ten minutes, a short break, then another ten minutes of Golden Goal O/T, the atmosphere had to be lived through to be believed! Another short break, how much longer could this be kept going? 1m22 into period five and its all over. The non Czech spectators provide fitting applause, but it?s a big building and the applause is somewhat drowned-out by other activities!

<font color=blue>Team USA provided a superb exhibition of Inline Hockey at its best. </font color=blue>

Soapbox in use
What a pity the Czech supporters couldn't put aside their jingoistic support. As the game progressed Team USA were subjected to appalling 'Bird'.

For those spectators from countries other than the Czech Republic, this exhibition of appalling behaviour by a considerable proportion of Czech supporters was only matched by the Czech team's appalling treatment of the minor teams during the group matches.

Was it really necessary for the Czech team to thrash Team Greece: 32-0? Surely this is not the way to promote the sport of inline hockey in those countries where the sport is still in the development stage. Such teams need encouraging, not humiliating!

Much better the approach of Team USA when playing the less able teams, they were a joy to behold, Team USA played to win (of course) and then provided the other team(s) with a level of experience, skills and gamesmanship these teams simply don't have available in their respective home countries. I am convinced that all of the players who met Team USA on the blue floor benefited from the experience and went home that much the better.

It was indeed a privilege to watch every Team USA game, and most of the other matches as well. Soapbox away

Off the blue floor, both within the stadium and around the town, Team USA were gentlemen in the true sense, no one was below them, my observations were that they spoke to all as equals, they were all ambassadors of both the sport and the USA. <font color=red>You have a team to be truly proud of. </font color=red>

It has been an experience and a privilege to be in attendance during the 12 days of the event.
---
John.
Great Britain.