AIHL Changes....

[towson9]

Flynn or Jeff take a look at this or anyone else involved with the league, figured it would be good to post here so it can be discussed and other people can add things plus since we debated about getting a new site on here and that worked this should be good....

All AIHL games should be festival style (like the college league does and like the couple jamborees we had last year). It will cut down on expenses for travel and player expenses in general. It will also allow players to play on teams that they arent close to so that traveling only a couple weekends to play 6-8 games a weekend would be worth it. Granted there will be less "home" games but in roller hockey does this really matter? maybe in a small few this does but lets face it most teams attract their girlfriends parents and a couple friends maybe, so these people would be willing to attend a big festival to see more games anyway.

Now I know most of the West does this anyway but I think the Eastern Conference should adapt to this outside of the 2 jamborees they have for the outside division games. All division games should be festival too. The season would be quicker and for players that work weekends it's also less of a hassle to only worry about 4-5 weekends rather than playing games every weekend or every other weekend.

Im sure most are with me when they see that there are way more pros than cons doing it this way, what does everyone think??

also what other changes are you looking for next year??

[DCbullets14]

Gene,
I agree with you on this... my thought is that festival style would have an increadibly positive impact on the sport. It would make it much easier on players which will attract more talent into the league (this is always a good thing).

It also increases the ability to get equipment companies involved... getting them to set up booths like they do at the tournaments would be awesome.

It also creates a circus like atmosphere for the events which will attract way more fans in the long run.

*** I would also like to see the 2 game format removed. It really accomplishes nothing. It was helpful in the old PIHA days when one team dominated all others however the AIHL is for the most part very competitive and these blow outs are rare. Lets make the halfs longer instead of playing 2 seperate games (similar to the final game 20 minute halfs).

*** There are two other rules that need to be changed in our sport.
1. We need to adopt the rule TORHS uses with regards to delayed penalties. Once the puck crosses the red line it cannot be carried back accross. This prevents teams from sitting behind their net and waiting out the clock. A simple and small change that really improves the game.

2. Failure to Advance - A rule needs to be created to prevent teams from sitting on the puck. In basketball and lax there are rules that regulate how the ball is moved up the playing surface.... you have 10 seconds to reach the half court.In lacrosse you must get the ball into the offensive box in a set amount of time.

Inline hockey should adopt a rule similar to these to put an end to teams which sit beind their net for extended periods of time. Patience is great but too much of it is boring, ruins the game, and drives off fans.

[minutemen]

I love the advance the puck rule. I hate when teams do that and it really makes the game boring. As for the entire season being festival I have to say no. Being a family man now it is hard to leave for an entire weekend to go play hockey. Obviously they will always have to be in PA (For the North) because they have two rink facilities. I like to just go for a few hours on the weekend, play the game, have a beer and go back to the family. For teams in MA, CT and RI it will be more money because of hotel, gas, etc. I understand it will be 5 or 6 weekends but I think it will make a lot of family players in the league stop playing. Gene I can see it from your point a view, a person that works weekends.

[towson9]

I love the advance the puck rule. I hate when teams do that and it really makes the game boring. As for the entire season being festival I have to say no. Being a family man now it is hard to leave for an entire weekend to go play hockey. Obviously they will always have to be in PA (For the North) because they have two rink facilities. I like to just go for a few hours on the weekend, play the game, have a beer and go back to the family. For teams in MA, CT and RI it will be more money because of hotel, gas, etc. I understand it will be 5 or 6 weekends but I think it will make a lot of family players in the league stop playing. Gene I can see it from your point a view, a person that works weekends.

I see your point but most of the north teams play over a weekend anyway. For example I noticed last year a Boston team would come down play 495ers on saturday and than stay and play the Sharks on sunday. So in theory that team is coming down for the weekend anyway, so if you're gonna stay why not play another 2-4 games against other teams to get it out of the way. For those that cant play both days, if you play 4 games both days, that particular player can get 4 games in as opposed to 2 than go home and still spend time with the family. Like I said there's pros and cons to everything but I feel this way more can get done it a shorter amount of time. On top of that for the younger guys or players that cant afford it, it will for sure cut down on costs.

[towson9]

Gene,
I agree with you on this... my thought is that festival style would have an increadibly positive impact on the sport. It would make it much easier on players which will attract more talent into the league (this is always a good thing).

It also increases the ability to get equipment companies involved... getting them to set up booths like they do at the tournaments would be awesome.

It also creates a circus like atmosphere for the events which will attract way more fans in the long run.

*** I would also like to see the 2 game format removed. It really accomplishes nothing. It was helpful in the old PIHA days when one team dominated all others however the AIHL is for the most part very competitive and these blow outs are rare. Lets make the halfs longer instead of playing 2 seperate games (similar to the final game 20 minute halfs).

*** There are two other rules that need to be changed in our sport.
1. We need to adopt the rule TORHS uses with regards to delayed penalties. Once the puck crosses the red line it cannot be carried back accross. This prevents teams from sitting behind their net and waiting out the clock. A simple and small change that really improves the game.

2. Failure to Advance - A rule needs to be created to prevent teams from sitting on the puck. In basketball and lax there are rules that regulate how the ball is moved up the playing surface.... you have 10 seconds to reach the half court.In lacrosse you must get the ball into the offensive box in a set amount of time.

Inline hockey should adopt a rule similar to these to put an end to teams which sit beind their net for extended periods of time. Patience is great but too much of it is boring, ruins the game, and drives off fans.

The TORHS rule is definitely a good idea to bring into the league.

The Failure to Advance the puck rule was implemented this past year (maybe not in all divisions but was in ours, and it was used in the playoffs in Disney). Here's how it was used. If the player is sitting behind the net with the puck and an attacking player is below the offensive zone faceoff dots (right on the crease, etc), its deemed the player is "pressuring" and the player behind the net does not need to move the puck. But if the attacking player moves back behind the faceoff dots than the player holding the puck behind the net must move the puck out after the referee gives him a 5-10 second warning. This was a pretty good rule because it forced the teams to not hold the puck the entire game.

[minutemen]

Definitely see your point or view on this. How about some weekday games? I know in the past it was hard because rinks had adult leagues but most rinks have some open time during the week now. Parents always used to tell me at my rink that try and make the games during weekdays so they could go. Obviously weekends are hard for the fans as well. We tried this a couple of times and had good turnouts to our games. Now this can't work for some rinks but most now could probably do it.

[growl89]

*** I would also like to see the 2 game format removed. It really accomplishes nothing. It was helpful in the old PIHA days when one team dominated all others however the AIHL is for the most part very competitive and these blow outs are rare. Lets make the halfs longer instead of playing 2 seperate games (similar to the final game 20 minute halfs).

*** There are two other rules that need to be changed in our sport.
1. We need to adopt the rule TORHS uses with regards to delayed penalties. Once the puck crosses the red line it cannot be carried back accross. This prevents teams from sitting behind their net and waiting out the clock. A simple and small change that really improves the game.

2. Failure to Advance - A rule needs to be created to prevent teams from sitting on the puck. In basketball and lax there are rules that regulate how the ball is moved up the playing surface.... you have 10 seconds to reach the half court.In lacrosse you must get the ball into the offensive box in a set amount of time.

Inline hockey should adopt a rule similar to these to put an end to teams which sit beind their net for extended periods of time. Patience is great but too much of it is boring, ruins the game, and drives off fans.

The two game format is pointless in a league with parity. The whole purpose was to create a more even playing field and if a team lost 5-1 and 5-1, that was better, somehow, then 10-2 in one longer game. This league is pretty even and blow outs now would be few and far between. Let's play one long game. 2, 20's stop time is good.

I do not agree about the delayed penalty rule at all. A penalty is earned with hard work (most of the time) you should be able to use the puck and clock to your advantage in those situations.

Same goes for the advancing ths puck rule. It's a teams strategy. If you put an advance the puck rule in, then there needs to be a rule that you can not sit back and play a box. A box is the defensive version of killing the clock and waiting for one chance to score.

If there is going to be an advance the puck rule, then there should be a mandatory pressure that needs to be put on in order to move the puck. No pressure, then you should be allowed to just sit there.

[growl89]

Flynn or Jeff take a look at this or anyone else involved with the league, figured it would be good to post here so it can be discussed and other people can add things plus since we debated about getting a new site on here and that worked this should be good....

All AIHL games should be festival style (like the college league does and like the couple jamborees we had last year). It will cut down on expenses for travel and player expenses in general. It will also allow players to play on teams that they arent close to so that traveling only a couple weekends to play 6-8 games a weekend would be worth it. Granted there will be less "home" games but in roller hockey does this really matter? maybe in a small few this does but lets face it most teams attract their girlfriends parents and a couple friends maybe, so these people would be willing to attend a big festival to see more games anyway.

Now I know most of the West does this anyway but I think the Eastern Conference should adapt to this outside of the 2 jamborees they have for the outside division games. All division games should be festival too. The season would be quicker and for players that work weekends it's also less of a hassle to only worry about 4-5 weekends rather than playing games every weekend or every other weekend.

Im sure most are with me when they see that there are way more pros than cons doing it this way, what does everyone think??

also what other changes are you looking for next year??

Couldn't agree more, festivals are the way to go. What is worse then driving a few hours and playing in front of 20 people, then getting right back in the car. You spend more time in the car, then on the rink. Festivals are fun because you get to see all the teams at once. And since everyone knows each other anyways, it's always good to see people around the rink for a weekend. Working weekends myself with coaching, it was impossible for me to play this year due to the schedule being spread out over 6 months. With a game seemingly each weekend.

[DCbullets14]

The finals games were great... I didnt realize they had adopted that rule... the puck stayed moving almost the entire time and the games stayed very exciting.

I know in our division it is almost impossible to do weeknight games simply because of traffic concerns. Additionally many of th teams in our division are really spread out... Pittsburhg is about 4 hours and Richmond is about 2 and a half hours.

If the league does adopt the festival schedule we could potentially find a hotel to act as a league sponsor and give a really low room rate.

[DCbullets14]

Bill,
Imagine what would have happened to the league and sport if duing the AIHL broadcast the 495s had sat behind their net after getting a 2 goal lead.

There would not be a chance in hell of the league being given that opportunity in the future. By making the game exciting we peaked the interst of ESPN and now have a huge ace in our pocket for future sponsorships and have taken a major step towards legitimizing the sport.

Anyone who grew up in tournament roller hockey will argue that sitting behind your net is an important strategy in inline hockey unfortunately, every new fan will tell you that in ruins the game.

Roller hockey currently has the high scoring, fast paced action that the NHl has been trying to create over the last few years... we should be pushing the game to evolve into something even more exciting instead of allowing the "slow down" style of inline hockey to ruin such a great opportunity.

[GROWL]

Flynn or Jeff take a look at this or anyone else involved with the league, figured it would be good to post here so it can be discussed and other people can add things plus since we debated about getting a new site on here and that worked this should be good....

All AIHL games should be festival style (like the college league does and like the couple jamborees we had last year). It will cut down on expenses for travel and player expenses in general. It will also allow players to play on teams that they arent close to so that traveling only a couple weekends to play 6-8 games a weekend would be worth it. Granted there will be less "home" games but in roller hockey does this really matter? maybe in a small few this does but lets face it most teams attract their girlfriends parents and a couple friends maybe, so these people would be willing to attend a big festival to see more games anyway.

Now I know most of the West does this anyway but I think the Eastern Conference should adapt to this outside of the 2 jamborees they have for the outside division games. All division games should be festival too. The season would be quicker and for players that work weekends it's also less of a hassle to only worry about 4-5 weekends rather than playing games every weekend or every other weekend.

Im sure most are with me when they see that there are way more pros than cons doing it this way, what does everyone think??

also what other changes are you looking for next year??

I think it is important at this moment to point out a few things about the AIHL. We have a very active executive board and these types of arguements are had on a regular basis. We encourage all new ideas and/or critisism. IHC is a terrific venue for players, followers, or even critics to point out flaws, as each member of the executive committee regularly follows these boards and generally participates.

It is also important to note that changes to the league format are made once a year and that is at our annual league meeting in Las Vegas in late January.

In regard to your ideas. These ideas if submitted to the league office by a team representative can be added to the proposed changes for the 2011-2012 season. Allow me to explain briefly why we make changes when we do. We find that teams, while in mid-competetion, are far more interested in attending meetings and participating in league decision making, then after the season is over. This particular time of the season, team mangers are either taking a breather, perhaps enjoying the summer, or generally preparing their own organizations for a new season. We as a league most focus on who is in and out for next season and managing our off season affairs as well. Thus why we have adopted our mid season meetings to vote upon the following seasons league format, rules, and changes ect...

For the topic of festivals, I can tell you that no topic is discussed and debated more than this. It was reintroduced at the meeting in Florida preseeding the championships. Teams are all over the place on this topic. This is why the current league policy that each region shall decide on its own how to schedule their games is in place. I see no change in this policy in the near future because of the wide disparity of feelings on this topic. In the northeast, I suspect a combination of festival/home games will remain.

In regard to the idea of lengthening games. Two comments about this. In doing that it would first work directly against your idea of moving to festivals. It is far more attractive to go to a festival and play 4-6 games then go to a festival and play 2-3 games. Second not only does having a second game help keep blow outs within control, it also helps to keep order in a physical or emotional game. When the clock and score board is reset, emotions from the first game have to be kept in check. One last comment about festivals. Right now if you have a player who is unavailable for a weekend, they risk missing 2 maybe at worst 4 games. With a festival format it will be nearly impossible for players to miss weekends at all and be eligable for the playoffs.

Last about the website/ While we did not simply make a website change because of the posts on IHC, we were nervous making the change when we did and the posts certainly supported our arguement. We were aware since early to mid season that we had a lemon and simply had to wait until the right time to make a move. Please keep the comments coming. It is highly unlikely that your presenting something new, but a new point of view or perhaps overwhelming support for an idea one way or another will certainly help the owners, and executive board better drive this league in the right direction. After all that is what the league was founded on.

[Drexel63]

Teams are all over the place on this topic. This is why the current league policy that each region shall decide on its own how to schedule their games is in place. I see no change in this policy in the near future because of the wide disparity of feelings on this topic.

You can see this just in the individual comments here in this thread alone.. Every team deals with a different budget based on their distance to opponents. I think limiting the entire league to one scheduling style or another would irresponsibly alienate some franchise for the sake of others; which exactly what this league was meant to avoid, correct?

In regard to the idea of lengthening games. Two comments about this. In doing that it would first work directly against your idea of moving to festivals. It is far more attractive to go to a festival and play 4-6 games then go to a festival and play 2-3 games.

Having played college in this exact format for too many years, I must say I completely disagree with this. You can schedule 4 games (more for local teams) per festival for all teams if you group and locate the festivals with foresight, and book the rink time in bulk and in advance. Limiting franchises to a single minor team would help in this area as well.

Limiting franchises to a single minor team would also lead to a balanced divisional schedule for the minor league, which I think is definitely something which needs to be addressed.

Second not only does having a second game help keep blow outs within control, it also helps to keep order in a physical or emotional game. When the clock and score board is reset, emotions from the first game have to be kept in check.

This same logic works against your point as well, Flynn. We've both seen, way too many times, scores get settled in game 2, overflowing from beef in game 1. Although I will admit that with the AAU's take on misconducts and gross/match penalties, it is less likely now.

One last comment about festivals. Right now if you have a player who is unavailable for a weekend, they risk missing 2 maybe at worst 4 games. With a festival format it will be nearly impossible for players to miss weekends at all and be eligable for the playoffs.

Again, this comes back to intelligent scheduling. It should be the responsibility of the GM of each franchise to approach their scheduling meeting prepared, in order to maximize player eligibility and get key pieces of their roster eligible for the playoffs.

Last about the website/ While we did not simply make a website change because of the posts on IHC, we were nervous making the change when we did and the posts certainly supported our arguement. We were aware since early to mid season that we had a lemon and simply had to wait until the right time to make a move. Please keep the comments coming. It is highly unlikely that your presenting something new, but a new point of view or perhaps overwhelming support for an idea one way or another will certainly help the owners, and executive board better drive this league in the right direction. After all that is what the league was founded on.

I congratulate the league leadership for having the "stones" to make that move with the website when you did. After being burned with a bad investment only months earlier, you risked getting burned again, before the biggest weekend of the league's history, and I commend you for going through with it. Sometimes, less can be much more in the web business, and I look forward to the new website being revised and improved for a full season.

[Mlrhnorthfan]

festivals do NOT draw fans plain and simple. this league will not grow without fan base.

one or two festivals are ok, any more and you become just like torhs or narch. why have a LEAGUE at all if you are only recreating Torhs/NARCH.they do it best, leave them to it.

no fans go to those narch/torhs tourney events beyond families and players.

The answer is to condense the aihl schedule somewhat. (not game number but calendar length) you need to keep interest in the league by having the games closer together. make the schedule December to April. you need home games to build rivalries that make the sport more interesting. while it is good for parity to have Hartford play Richmond, no one cares becuase there isnt anything really at stake. But Hartford playing the sharks at a home and home matters becuase of divisional playoffs standings.


if you think festivals draw more actual fans than home series you dont get it. Festivals generate no story lines and no interest beyond the 50 people on this board. you need fans to care about the team and the sport. you cant build momentum when you have one home game in November then dont have another one until January because you are going three hours away to play a jamboree or have 4 weeks off.

you cant get fans on a bus to a jamboree (weve tried)

festivals benefit teams that are thrown together. its alot easier to convince guys to show to 4 weekend events than 10-16 weekend events. if it was easy to throw teams together, every year there would be so much turn over in terms of franchises and names etc and you couldnt convince someone to care about a team that may not be around next season.

Festivals are convenient for the players but not best for the league future.

[towson9]

festivals do NOT draw fans plain and simple. this league will not grow without fan base.

one or two festivals are ok, any more and you become just like torhs or narch. why have a LEAGUE at all if you are only recreating Torhs/NARCH.they do it best, leave them to it.

no fans go to those narch/torhs tourney events beyond families and players.

The answer is to condense the aihl schedule somewhat. (not game number but calendar length) you need to keep interest in the league by having the games closer together. make the schedule December to April. you need home games to build rivalries that make the sport more interesting. while it is good for parity to have Hartford play Richmond, no one cares becuase there isnt anything really at stake. But Hartford playing the sharks at a home and home matters becuase of divisional playoffs standings.


if you think festivals draw more actual fans than home series you dont get it. Festivals generate no story lines and no interest beyond the 50 people on this board. you need fans to care about the team and the sport. you cant build momentum when you have one home game in November then dont have another one until January because you are going three hours away to play a jamboree or have 4 weeks off.

you cant get fans on a bus to a jamboree (weve tried)

festivals benefit teams that are thrown together. its alot easier to convince guys to show to 4 weekend events than 10-16 weekend events. if it was easy to throw teams together, every year there would be so much turn over in terms of franchises and names etc and you couldnt convince someone to care about a team that may not be around next season.

Festivals are convenient for the players but not best for the league future.

I'm not saying it draws more of a fan base, if i did say that anywhere i didnt mean too. My point was that this will cut down on travel costs and player expenses. If you can cut the length of the season than that might help as well.

What i was saying about fan base is that most teams dont have them in general. i know you guys up in hartford do and you guys do a great job. everytime we go up there its packed. the majority of teams have like i said family members, girlfriends, and maybe a friend or two that just wanna come watch. for those people i said they are the same people that are willing to go to festivals, so you are not deterring them away because they are most likely going to go anyway and for that matter watch them play more games.

again not everyone is going to agree with it, there should still be home games if you want but if a team just wants to play festivals i dont see why you should say no to them.

[GROWL]

Bill,

I think you can see by Matt's response the passion some have with this topic. Make no mistake about it, I have taken no position on this topic personally. However, from a league stand point we have to understand these draw backs to festivals. While it may be necessary to use festivals entirely in some areas. I will point out that in those areas the divisions are small and it affords each rink to host at least one event. You must remember that we need the support of the rinks and if the rink doesn't get a slice of the pie then they are not likely to be supportive. In addition many teams do not pay for rink time and nuetral site games then add an additional cost. On the flip side, teams that generate a significant fan base then miss out on necessary revenue. In the northeast there are way to many teams to spread festivals everywhere. Not to mention that with so many teams we'd be forced, like last year, to use only the larger venues to accommodate the time needed. Also understand that every time there is a festival there needs to be staff on hand and the league would need to reorganize itself to properly staff these events, so hosting more then a handful becomes a real problem.