checking yes or no

[columbus_RHstar]

from a players point of view do you think that checking should be allowed in roller hockey. obviousy not in rec leagues or 10u or maybe even 12u for that matter. i would not be opposed. It might make a difference ni cost and the speed but with so much of the ice game is slipping into the game why not allow checking to be next?
peace 2 u

[goalie32]

In the rec leagues, competitive leagues, and tournaments I've played in checking is minimally legal.

You can rub a forward into the boards, knock him off the puck physically, stand him up if he tries to make a move around you, and you can check the puck carrier, if it's a clean legitimate attempt to disrupt the player from his path or the puck.

What you can't do is line players up for hard hits. You can't just drill someone along the boards, and open-rink hits are usually interference or roughing penalties. I've found that the refs in our leagues generally allow a hit, but if the player goes down hard or makes the boards rattle loudly, it's a penalty.

It's a decision that's kinda difficult to quantify in a rule book, but the general consensus is that any contact that knocks a player off the puck or legally impedes his progress is legal, but if an amount of force is used to slam the player into the boards like in ice hockey, that is seen as excessive and an attempt to injure.

And then naturally the more important games (playoffs, rival matchups) allow for a little more physicality.

I'm personally very happy with the officiating systems I've seen. Hitting for the sake of defense is allowed. Hitting for the sake of hitting and intimidation is penalized. And nearly all extra-curricular exchanges (that are seen) are called pretty quickly to avert altercations. This is a great deterrent to cheap play while still allowing checking.

[hockystar16]

Flame. Deleted.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:11 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[columbus_RHstar]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:19 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[hockystar16]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:12 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[columbus_RHstar]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:18 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[ppring242]

Another childish message from someone looking to be banned from the IHC Message Board.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 11:09 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[Falcons77]

I think that checking should not be a part of roller hockey. On Ice you can stop, slide and there is pleanty of padding. In roller, you cant stop and move as quick, many roller players dont know how to properly check, and there is no gliding when your body hits the surface. I play MLRH and we check. I just think that too many roller players dont have the training, teaching, and former skills from ice to use a check well. The problem I see is too many people looking to hurt someone, not knock them off the puck.

[spartans06]

i agree with falcons, not enough padding.

[N2HKY]

This atricle can be found in the Archives of the columns section on this web site. It may enlighten you.

Northern Exposure 4
May 6, 1998

by Derek Moscato

The Stanley Cup playoffs never cease to amaze me. For a month or two every spring, the best hockey players in the world duel it out for the bragging rights to the sport's most glorious prize. Unlike the regular season, the NHL playoffs provide nail-biting tension and sheer excitement. Here, the agony and athleticism of sport is on full display.

The playoffs can be characterized by their most redeeming traits: break-neck speeds, strategic coaching, high emotions, excellent defense and bombs-away body contact. It's the last characteristic that leaves me scratching my head time and time again. Watching the likes of Peter Forsberg and Mike Grier, two superb players who have the skills to match their brute hitting force, I wonder if inline hockey players will ever be able to crack the pro ranks of hockey without a foundation in body contact.

I'm coming from the position of someone who wants to speed up the game of inline hockey, not a supporter of ice hockey barbarism. Clearly, body contact should be differentiated from the jabbing and cheap shots that go on in many hockey leagues, including the RHI, NHL, and the NCAA.

While rug rats shouldn't have to worry about dodging some seven-year-old thug taking a run, it's at the age of 10 or 11 that young players start to consider their futures in the sport. Do they want to pursue hockey at a high-end competitive level, and possibly make a push for a collegiate or professional career? This is a question many players and parents ask, including those in inline hockey. If so, it's time to take a long hard look at body contact.

Body contact isn't about violence or excessive aggression. Hockey thrives off of a physical element because it speeds up the play of the game and encourages players to move the puck. There's only one thing worse than having to watch a puck hog who fails to acknowledge his linemates, and that would be playing with one. Body contact forces greedy players to make a move or pay the price.

There's no question that body checking provides an exciting element to the game. Does it have a place in inline hockey? So far, it has only been able to crack the pro ranks.

USA Hockey InLine does not allow body checking at any level of play. According to director Mark Rudolph, however, incidental physical content which results from two players playing the puck who have run out of free space is legal.

"Inline hockey is philosophically different than ice hockey," says Rudolph. "Body-checking in inline hockey is dangerous. Ice hockey players can stop and move laterally, to step into an opponent, in an instant. This creates a "safe" mechanism for body checking. In-line hockey players cannot do this."

Rudolph makes a point. An inline skate doesn't afford players the same precision in movement as the ice skate. Players who don't want to make the effort to stop may simply run into other bodies to decrease their speed.

The absence of full-scale body contact certainly gives inline hockey an identity of its own. Some players liken the inline game to soccer, where graceful object control supersedes other strategies such as dump and chase.

Rudolph believes that the few players ready to make a jump to the professional ranks can easily adapt to the physical requirements.

"The number of players who will ever play professional inline hockey is very small, compared to the overall inline hockey population," he says. "Body-checking skills can be taught by good coaches when the player enters a league in which body checking is legal."

Whether or not the absence of hitting in amateur inline hockey is hurting or helping the game has yet to be seen. Young players are certainly benefiting from a greater concentration on shooting, stickhandling, skating and passing, while parents can breathe easier when their child participates in a safer sporting environment. Still, what's a good thing early on may hinder player development in the long run.

"You can't play the game without contact," says Bill Jensen, who played defense for Major League Roller Hockey's New York Riot last summer. "It really does ruin the basics of the game, particularly when you have the roller hockey players that are pure roller hockey players trying to make the pros. If they've played roller hockey all their lives, they may have great skills, but they're the ones with their heads down."

Jensen, who had experience in hitting leagues before turning pro, believes amateur inline hockey players could be in for a rude awakening down the line.

"When people bitch about how pro roller hockey is overrun with ice hockey players over the summer, a lot of it has to do with politics," says Jensen. "But a lot of it has to do with roller hockey players not having the hitting experience. The minute they go to the (pro) tryout, they're going to get popped."

Inline hockey may not be ready for hitting yet, but there is clearly a movement supporting an introduction of bodychecking to the amateur game. One can only hope that somewhere in the near future, pure inline hockey players can compete on a level playing field with their ice-hockey brothers when it comes time to turning pro.

Derek Moscato lives in Kelowna, British Columbia. His writing credits include Inline Hockey News, Puck, InLine, and Travel Channel Online. The former centerman with the University of Kansas Jayhawks can be found reliving his college glories along the banks of Okanagan Lake. E-mail Derek at [email protected].

[SpeedDemon]

In the MLRH games I've played in this year in the Liberty division, checking is purely a situational thing in that players are waiting for the correct time to make a check (instead of running guys like has happened before). That is sign that players definitely are smarter about that aspect of the game now, and that I think checking could remain a part of the higher ranks.

[Hockey_nut97]

I play on a tournament travel team, and in the inhouse leagues in my region. When traveling to national tournaments, the referees are more knowledgable of the rules, and they allow physical contact to go on. NO i do not believe checking should be part of the game. However, rubbing out a player and checking them are two different things. The best way to defend and intimidate a player/team is to be physical when going for loose pucks. By allowing players to fight for the pucks the game becomes faster and more fun. Players will not want to carry the puck all the way up the rink, and it will force them to be less selfish. I think some degree of physical contact should be allowed, but not bodychecking.

[oak_83]

i am a big guy. in a game of checking i wound mangle many out there, yet i dont think it should be incorparated in to the game.

to be able to "brain" the dude next to you in my opinion is a not a skill and shouldnt be encouraged.

sure i loved slapshot and its great to watch but i dont think it helps to bring the game on in terms of skill level or ability, kids especially should be thought that its more worthwhile to work on their stick handling than on their ability to thump the fella next to them.

[FunnyJr]

I totally think that inline hockey should not incorporate all out checking. However I think that it minor checking when battling for possesion of the puck is ok because it is nessesary for the game. I think that checking players against the boards and taking there head off is just plain stupid ..even in the NHL.. that is why you see more and more players getting concusions and serious injuries. I guess thats why players salaries are so high.

In my opinion I rather see good physical "smart" play instead of stupid no brain hits that could seriously injure. Like any other accidents, one stupid check is all it takes to end someones future to ever playing. SO i say play smart!!!

[FunnyJr]

I totally think that inline hockey should not incorporate all out checking. However I think that it minor checking when battling for possesion of the puck is ok because it is nessesary for the game. I think that checking players against the boards and taking there head off is just plain stupid ..even in the NHL.. that is why you see more and more players getting concusions and serious injuries. I guess thats why players salaries are so high.

In my opinion I rather see good physical "smart" play instead of stupid no brain hits that could seriously injure. Like any other accidents, one stupid check is all it takes to end someones future to ever playing. SO i say play smart!!!