State of MLRH

[wildcard00]

Can anyone explain the state of MLRH? I know that a couple of teams have dropped out or been kicked out of the league, and that there have been teams not showing up for their road games but having a full team for home games. If anyone can explain what is going on with MLRH it would be great.

[vitaminchi]

it's simple. the league is not consistent. nobody wants to travel, but it's also hard to make arrangements to travel when the schedule is realeased a few days before the games. to be honest, it's just not run very smoothly. oh well.

[wolves89]

save the redundant posts, just come play PIHA, up to date stats and schedules, teams travel with more then enough guys for the most part most teams are pretty well matched up! MLRH has the right idea with the offsides and checking i think, the better the talent the cleaner the games are, and this season it was pretty clean from what i've heard and seen here in the Northeast, they just can't seem to get organized. Make it an easy choice, Vote PIHA in 2007!!

i'm not slow, i'm patient

[Mlrhnorthfan]

agreed. the idea of checking and offsides is great but every rink you play at has a different rule despite what the MLRH rulebook (if one exists) says. The checking aspect is what should set the league above the others, but there are so many guys that either dont know how or refuse to hit cleanly. It is a topic that has been over killed here for the last few years. in the end, I gotta agree, its not worth blowing an ACL on a dirty hit in a game you traveled hours to get to playing against 6 guys.

Sure its fun to say you play at that level but does anyone really care beyond the 40 other guys left in the league that check the website that is updated twice a week?

Lets just finish the season and move on to PIHA next year!

[yokes]

Next year??? What about this year? Dont wait!

"Only God saves more than Yokes"

[Db55UD02]

The fact is, the governing bodies who run the two leagues are egotistical and can't check their pride at the door. Bill Raue has done the best he can do with what he has got, as far as teams, players, buildings, etc...Charley Yoder has PIHA going in the right direction, but definitely could use more help. If these two would sit in a room and work out what differences they may or may not have, then we would be talking about a fully sponsored league with great talent ( think RHI). I think PIHA already has checking in its game, as some of the games are similar to Torhs pro anyway. Just eliminate the open ice hitting and keep it relegated to the boards. This should satisfy the blood thirsty crowds and you know what, include fighting if need be. What happens, if you do fight, is that you should be automatically tossed for the next game. This will eliminate the need for cement heads who can't play the game and don't deserve to be on a team. I don't think I have all the answers, but it would be nice if we all got on the same page next year and see Pro Roller hockey move forward, instead of two steps back every other year. My two cents...

[wolves89]

of course charlie could use help, who couldn't... but i don't think it should be Raue who should help him out... Charlie seems to have PIHA going in the right direction, expansion to Canada, St louis, etc... he seems to be doing fine right now, maybe with such a huge league next year some help may be a bonus for him.

As for checking and fighting, some of the problem are some of the rink boards as well, every rink have different boards, making it dangerous for checking... Fighting does not belong in the game at this level... Is it worth losing a tooth or getting a broken nose when you are getting NO money and you have to go to a REAL job in the morning? Fighting in Juniors in ice hockey was cool and fun as h*ll but that's when we were all growing up. We are grown up now and shouldn't need to fight in front of 30-50 people to show how good of a hockey player we are.

i'm not slow, i'm patient

[GROWL]

Again as I have said in the past, we tried to get bill to sit down with us. Thus the creation of XIHL! A direct result of the frustration of the people working with bill. When he refused anything but a simple merger of everything into his 'superior' league, his acting commisioner and the bulk of his teams moved to XIHL which was supposed to work in tandem with piha. I look forward to ONE exciting league next year and hopefully an evolution of our two leagues into what will become PRO inline hockey at its peak.

[Brooklynite10]

i agree, from top to bottom

[yokes]

ill second that!

"Only God saves more than Yokes"

[JAX96]

IN MY OPINION (AND PROBALY MANY OTHERS) PIHA IS WAY SUPERIOR TO THE MLRH. I KNOW PEOPLE WHO COULD PLAY IN THE MLRH AND DON'T REALLY WANT TO. THOSE SAME PEOPLE WOULD LOVE TO PLAY IN THE PIHA. WHY ISN'T THERE MORE EXPANSION TEAMS BEING PUT IN THE PIHA. TAKE GUYS FROM THE MLRH...JUST THE GOOD GUYS, AND LEAVE THE GUYS THAT PLAY JUST TO HURT THE SKILLED GUYS BEHIND.

I LOVE THE IDEA OF MIXING THE TWO. A PIHA W/ MORE TEAMS, CHECKING AND NO FIGHTING WOULD BE PERFECT.

[vapor10]

I'll say the reason why I haven't gone to play in MLRH is just that . . theres goons, MLRH seems like the place where the guys who can't hack it in PIHA go to play. Because they obviously aren't there to be apart of the AMAZING organized league. Katinsky said it . .it ain't worth losing teeth or getting a black eye when alot of us have customers and boss's we need to deal with on monday morning.

[Db55UD02]

See, now Ill argue that point every time. If you have played contact hockey before, you can play MLRH. In Ice, you can get hit and not get out of the way. When it comes to roller, if you have great body control and your head is not at your feet, you won't get hit. It is all mental, and if you are truly scared to play MLRH, then maybe PIHA isnt for you as well. I have gotten hit just as much in PIHA as I have in MLRH. In fact, i have gotten in more fights from PIHA than in MLRH, granted it may have been the minors division, but i can count the number of fights from mlrh in one hand. If you are also that concerned with missing teeth, and black eye, etc, then put on a cage. It doesnt make me less of a man to put it on, and have been wearing one since I got my lip split open in a crappy house league game. Also, there is something called a mouth gard that some, not all, hockey players do wear to protect their teeth and guard against concussions. As for the comment that those who can't hack piha go to MLRH, I beg to differ. Lets face it, unless you know someone or are extremely skilled and gifted, you won't be playing piha pro. It is still very much a political pro league and still is run by the players, or a players parent. That is just being honest for you havs...

[vapor10]

Dave . .sorry my post was probably kinda bleak . . i meant that for myself and some others . .i think we choose not to play not because we're afraid of getting hit . .but because we don't trust some of the goons in the league... In PIHA, I dont think theres a single "GOON" out there, because goons would be completely inept in PIHA . . but in MLRH . .youve got guys that can't skate, pass or shoot . . .so they just wanna hurt. And not too mention the fact that I value my PIHA season and if I had to tell our coaches that i got hurt playing in an mlrh pick up game . . they'd be friggen pissed and I'd be pissed as well at myself. Other than that . .I played high school and juniors . .hittings fun.

[Brooklynite10]

Hitting is fun and I miss it, but I love the fact that I actually can focus on my game when I play in PIHA and don't have to worry about getting blind sided or sucker punched. I played in the MLRH for 4 yrs. and can through the body with the best of them, but it seemed like anytime I through a clean hard body check, I had to worry about dropping the gloves or had to duck under an elbow or a stick. It just took the fun out of the game for me. I sell real estate, and it is tough to sell houses with a face full of cuts and bruises. Not counting the goons, I do think the talent level is pretty comparable between leagues. When the top teams from MLRH like the Storm & Thunder do join the PIHA next year, It is going to be pretty amazing.