ALL THESE ELITE LEAGUES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MHL]

With all of these elite, professional, and major league hockey leagues out there that nobody wants to say is the best league that they have played in for certain reason that I have heard. For example the president of MLRH, the website and other things for the NARHL, and the many teams that were committed to the MPRH that just folded.

What can a league do to make the people, players, and fans happy. How would you suggest that a "pro" league was ran. I have been looking into this since the RHI folded and keep getting different opinions. What can a league do to make everyone happy. Give them some options rather than complaining about them. I know a lot of people want this sport to succeed and want to help but without the cooperation of the rest.

Don't get me wrong NARCh is the best thing to happen to the sport and will keep on doing this for a long time but we need a league to participate to get ready for NARCh rather than just the qualifiers. Send a post and tell everyone what the roller hockey players want in a league.

[columbus_RHstar]

Exactly!! hopefully in a few years i will be playing pro and agree there needs to be a league. One thing that could bring more fans would be bringing the physical aspect of ice hockey into the game(i.e. checking, fighting) this is a reason the NHL is popular is beacuasre of its fights. In Columbus at Blue Jackets games everyone waits for Jody Shelley or Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre to drop the gloves and theyve been selling or close to since they came to town! Also brining some aspects of the olympic game into play not the rules but more like the style of play that team Sweden used called the torpedo. it was fun to watch and seems like fun to play. Things like he ramp behind the net in Pro Beach should not be included because it is a disgrace to the game.Hope these ideas help. I would love to see something happen!!!

[SpeedDemon]

MLRH is actually a pretty fun league to play in this year. And there's good competition.

Pro Beach was a made-for-TV event. The ramps were there to attract a younger, "aggro-inline" audience, which it failed to do since games were aired at 2pm and 12midnight, which those ages aren't typically able to watch at.

MLRH is going for now. I think that in time, more and more people will jump on, and regardless of who is in charge NOW, decisions will be made for the benefit of the sport as a whole and you'll see the makings of another professional league.

[colohockeydad]

What is needed is someone with a LOT of money to get interested in making the game succeed. Major League Soccer would have probably folded a few years ago if billionaire Phillip Anschutz didn't love the sport. He owns at least 4 of the teams playing.

[John_S_Osborne]

Nah, I don't think we need alot of money. Look at RHI. That league had a ton of money, but due to several reasons, things didn't work out.

I think the approach that is currently ongoing will be best. A number of higher level leagues are developing, the majority of which in different geographical areas (save for MLRH and NARHL). I think what will eventually happen is that as each league becomes stable and competitive, hopefully they will start joining together to form bigger leagues.

Case in point, look at the CRHL. Five or so years ago, there were about 4 or 5 regional college leagues. When it came time that the competition had stabilized to a decent level, the regional directors formed the CRHL to give an outlet to crown one, true national champion.

Some may argue that is a little different, considering that money, for the most part, was not part of the formation of the CRHL, whereas with these pro leagues, making a profit and ownership issues are a bit more taxing.

But, I agree with you in one respect. It will take the emergence of one person or organization that can see that the overall promotion of the *sport* is more important than any league. Someone who has a love for the game and respects it. That is when things will really start coming together.

- john

[Benny_Gulakiw]

Sorry to disagree with you, John, but money is needed. You are absolutely right when you talk about the process that is needed to create a new, true national professional roller hockey league, but you still need money. That's why the re-emergence of the sport at that level has been so excruciatingly slow.

As you know, I was part of the pro leagues (RHI & MLRH) way back when and the fact that those leagues or team owners had money was a myth, sort of. Believe me, you can do a lot with "smoke & mirrors." Whatever money the leagues or teams did have was foolishly spent.

If you talk to anyone who is currently running a league, is working on starting a league or has ever thought about starting a league (I have talked to all these people), they will tell you that money, or the lack thereof, is their biggest challenge to acheiving success.

Benny Gulakiw
Vice President of Operations
Buffalo Wings Roller Hockey

[Jockey1412]

I disagree. One thing we do not need is to bring checking and fighting into roller hockey. Every league that has tried to so far has failed. Why? Becase it is not a part of roller hockey. The best roller hockey i have seen played is where there is a lot of puck movement, rotation, and getting into the open space. More room to move and skate is needed, not less, which checking would bring. Also, most of the best teams already play like Sweden did; a lot of puck movement, long passed, and fast paced action. We just need a league to put those together in a good game, not a league that throws a bunch of brutes on rollerblades and tells them to hit.

[Huck]

Simply: Be loyal to the sport and the sport will be loyal to you.

Huck

[Leprekon]

I think MLRH is really a step in a good direction. I know MLRH is fairly new but, I'd really like to see some west coast teams like the RHI did. The MLRH seems almost regional because most of the teams are with in 100 miles of each other. This is economical but it is hard to get a grass roots following if 3/4 of country can't attend functions or games. Hopefully the MLRH or what ever pro leagues starts up will head west and if lucky the northwest where inline hockey is not nearly as popular as it is in other parts of the country even though we do have a good sized ice hockey following. Just hope i'll have a chance to attend a MLRH or Narch event some, getting kind of tired of the wood floor skating rink for pick up games lol

Keep your bearings clean. It makes it easier to sneak up on people

[SpeedDemon]

Give it time. Oh yes, we need to visit that age-old cliche 'Rome wasn't built in a day.'

MLRH needs to succeed in the region it's in now, before it starts experimenting other places. I also think it's made great strides recently, but it still has a long way to go before it approaches the level RHI was once at.

[flyersindc]

Money is certainly needed, but we can't just throw money at it and expect it to work. The biggest obsticle MLRH has faced is getting quality facilities to back the teams. That's where the money comes in: having facilities spend money and market and advertise the teams and get the information out that we do have a good product that people will want to spend their money to see. The sport will only succeed when we build a fan base, and we can't build a fan base if they don't know we're out there. We have a few teams that are doing a really good job this year and getting good crowds. Only when all of our teams are able to do this will we really start to take off. Hopefully, we can build on this season and continue to expand next year.

Jim McNulty
Editor, MLRH.com

[hockystar16]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:22 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[columbus_RHstar]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:23 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[LetsRoll]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:24 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

[hockystar16]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RichardGraham on 03/27/02 08:25 PM.</EM></FONT></P>