What happend to the new Pro Roller Hockey League?

[Inline_Burl]

What happend to the new Pro Roller Hockey League?

[SPORTSPLEXJEFF]

It already closed up shop

[PRHA]

We're going on hold for awhile. We'll give out more information later. Thanks.

AJ Barnett
PRHL President

[InlineMBA]

Wow - that's got to be a record.

Steve Inge

[mcchockey9]

I didn't know that there was going to be another league besides the PIHA & MLRH. If someone has any info on how to contact the owner or anything, please let me know. I would like to get involved, whether it's playing or something with a team office. Thanks.

[TheSnake22]

lol... why?

if you want to get involved, do something with PIHA, not an imaginary league that didn't last 2 whole days before it shut down...

[PRHA]

I didn't know that there was going to be another league besides the PIHA & MLRH. If someone has any info on how to contact the owner or anything, please let me know. I would like to get involved, whether it's playing or something with a team office. Thanks.

We are going on hold untill we have some thing sorted out. You can email me if you would like more information.

AJ Barnett
PRHL President

Email

[mcchockey9]

The problem with the PIHA is the same as the MLRH...Neither league pays! I played professional ice hockey the past couple of years, but I am having my family now, and can't leave them for months at a time. I played in the MLRH this year, and it was great. It would've been better had I gotten paid, or it just didn't cost a dime. We had a long season, luckily our owner kept the travel down as much as possible, but it still gets costly. I could play in the PIHA, but it isn't located near me, and I don't want to drive to Richmond or Pittsburgh to play. I hope that a true professional league comes out. Maybe this league with have it's act together so it lasts as a professional league. Both the PIHA and MLRH didn't just start up over night, and that's why they are still around. Charlie and Bill have done a tremendous job keep both leagues working. Good Luck to the new league, and hopefully everything works out.

[INLINENut]

You should reply back with your stats and accolades so we can confirm you are truly a pro-ice player or just another chump that babbles about playing pro.

[mcchockey9]

I played for the Ashville Aces (SPHL), Richmond Riverdogs (UHL), Lansing Ice Nuts (IIHL), Danville Pounders (NEHL), Michigan Rebels (MLRH). Those are the pro teams i played for. I also have a couple of semi-pro inline teams as well. Thanks for your input.

[TheSnake22]

i hate to break it to you but you're probably not getting paid to play inline any time real soon, especially not with that joke of a league. piha is the closest to having the sponsorships and resources to compensate players, not to mention the highest level of competition.

not sure where you're living at the moment but i would guess that piha will be in your neighborhood either this season or next unless you're in living in a shack in the woods...

[INLINENut]

Good reply snake,

But I dont see how you can consider PIHA to be a top pro league. Charlie has done a great job in getting the ball rolling. But I dont know how you can have 5 teams in one city and consider it a pro-league? Might as well play drop in with your buddies and have the wives and girlfriends come along for the ride. Who wants to seriously attend a game to watch St. Louis North vs. St Louis South play and maybe throw in East & West the following games. At least with MLRH they allow full contact and fights to bring in some fans. In my view I would think PIHA & MLRH will have to find away to co-exist or come together for a true pro league that can be marketed to the public and not just the family, friends, and wives.

[TheSnake22]

your point is valid... however i never said piha was an top pro league, i said it was the closest to having players being compensated and that it was the best league in the country, which it certainly is in every way. there are some other threads on the subject where i expressed my whole point of view, but basically...

piha will continue to expand in the way it is now with divisions contained in a small geographic area. this serves to build the league in many ways. i could see the league sustaining upwards of 40-50 teams in its current format...

after the league has stabilized and secured the necessary finances, piha will be able to extract the true elite talent and set up a small scale "true" professional league with one team per major market, something like 6-10 teams. the existing form of piha will continue underneath this league and act as a feeding system into "piha elite"

the reason you can't just jump right to a true professional league is because the product just isn't at the level of quality needed to market it in a way to make a profit, and because the financial resources aren't available.

[mcchockey9]

I agree with everything that you all say. You see this kind of stuff in minor ice hockey. Different leagues and such. I think that both leagues have their nitche of fans. Both leagues bring in different types and are run differently. I would love to play in the PIHA. However, there isn't the following in Michigan to carry a full division. I talked with charlie in year one of PIHA, and we could not get enough interst then, since there was already a division here for the NARHL and MPHL back 2000-2002. I believe that you could take the best talent from both leagues, and put a quality product on the floor. I know alot of the guys who play in both, and there is the talent, just not the following in the public eye. PBH put a black eye on inline hockey, and it is a stigmatism that inline hockey has to break before it will be taken seriously. I've talked with alot of guys from PIHA and had a contract with a team in PIHA last year, but couldn't come to terms for travel arragnements. I think PIHA is the most organized, but MLRH is the most fan enticing. I never said that this new league was going to go, I"ve seen at least 4-5 leagues try to come up, and none have made it. Unfortunatley, lacrosse has become a great sport and professional, yet inline hockey can't. There are a lot of politics behind it that no one knows about, and that plays a big role as well. I hope that PIHA will come to Michigan in the future and that there is a good enough following.

[CoachClipboard]

That is all well and good, and yes, it would be great to have something like that right now for the very elite of elite. But fact is, it isnt happen at the moment. Many here have said that they believe that someday it may get to that level where there is money involved for players, and it most likely will, who knows? So where does that leave you if youre a good player? It leaves you with PIHA. You do want to play dont you? If you want the competition and youre of caliber, you play, you enjoy it, and you keep playing until that day hopefully comes. The alternative is two choices, Sit at home, on the pc and complain about how there is nothing for you as you grow older and older and eventually it slips by you, OR, you play house league somewhere to spite yourself and compete on the par/subpar level as your buddies play PIHA or MLRH having fun. Pro level doesnt always have to mean $$$$$$$. And how much do you think you will possibly make the first few years there is $$$ involved? Certainly not enough to pay bills, support a family, or take a lavish vacation. Pro level can also mean playing against professional quality players, some of which are the best in the country and actually being proud of that fact. The "Im too good to play unless someone gives me some beer money chump change" attitude is what hurts this level of roller hockey the most. Kinda Sad.

As for the PIHA and MLRH coexisting? Unless you live in that shack in the woods Jake was talking about, you would notice that PIHA manages just fine despite MLRH. Coexistence with each other isnt necessary, and that should be glaringly obvious for many reasons. Fighting puts fans in the seats? for roller hockey? It is drawing big for the MLRH and Im sure that the huge insurnace compensation package that is offered in that league is financially supporting those broken bones, damaged faces and lost time at their jobs. (yeah jobs, that place we all go just for fun because we already make so much $$$)
Realistic thought sometimes is warranted in this sport.