Roller in-line hockey

Some of the earliest video evidence of the sport is newsreel footage from the Giornale Luce taken in Vienna, Austria in 1938.[3] The video shows players using inline skates with five metal wheels and a front wheel brake. Each team has four skaters plus a netminder. They are using ice hockey sticks, with taped blades, and the goals closely resemble ice hockey goals of the wire-mesh type common in Europe around that time. The game is being played with a ball on a rectangular outdoor court, which appears to be asphalt.

History in Europe

SKF-Speedy, 1978

For training purposes especially for hockey players, inline skates were produced in small quantities by several companies which were in fact modified ice skates, one of them was the "Speedy" by SKF which was available also with hockey-wheels. This changed when mass-produced inline skates from the USA were available in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s first leagues started.

Inline roller hockey was introduced to the World Games for the first time in 2005, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event under the jurisdiction of the International World Games Association (IWGA), an affiliate of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). The United States won the Gold Medal, with Canada taking the Silver and Switzerland the Bronze Medal. Inline roller hockey replaced rink hockey (ball and cane) on the World Games program for Duisburg, Germany at the 2005 quadrennial World Games. Rink roller hockey had been part of the World Games since its first organization in 1979 at Santa Clara, California, as have the other disciplines of roller sports.

During the General Assembly of the IWGA, which took place in Madrid on 14 May 2003, the IWGA unanimously agreed that inline roller hockey was the responsibility of FIRS and that this variant form of roller hockey would be included on the program of the 2005 World Games in place of the previous format. This same scenario had previously played out before the Pan American Sports Organization in 1999, when inline hockey made its first appearance at the Pan American Games in Canada, and repeated again four years later in the Dominican Republic. PASO extends continued recognition of the inline hockey under the jurisdiction of FIRS.

National Roller Hockey League is a professional league, founded in 2014. The NRHL began its inaugural season 20 February 2015. The NRHL games consist of 3 15-minute periods, with 10 minute intermissions. It differs from professional ice hockey with rules like no offsides, and no icing. The NRHL permits fighting, with a 5-minute major penalty assessed to the combatants. The players in the NRHL pay nothing to play, with compensation opportunities available in the inaugural season. Players were paid a per game basis in the second season of the NRHL, based on a win or loss. The players were paid double for a win than a loss. The Detroit Bordercats won the inaugural Commissioner's Cup. The Bordercats repeated as Commissioner's Cup champions for the second season. The NRHL is expanding its role as a professional league in the summer of 2020. The NRHL will have franchises located throughout the United States and/or Canada in arenas with a minimum stadium seating capacity of 3,000. The season will operate from May through August.[4]

MLRH (Major League Roller Hockey), is played in the United States and Europe. It consists of East and West Coast divisions, and the season is played from October to March with finals being held in either Europe or the USA. This is the only full check inline league in the world and it has a $10,000 championship purse. It has similar rules as the NHL, with some exceptions and only having two 17 min periods and in the "Super" League, 4 x 12 minute quarters. MLRH has offside and icing rules as well as allowing players to have a single fight per game.

The French Ligue Elite is a professional league in Europe.

Inline-Hockey Puck

Although inline hockey appears to simply be ice hockey on inline skates, this single change ramifies through the rest of the game, resulting in important differences between the two sports.

Inline hockey is typically played at room temperature on a surface that, rather than being made from (frozen) water, is kept dry to protect the bearings in the skate wheels. Several surface materials are used, including plastic tiles (sometimes known as sport-court flooring), wood, and sealed concrete; in general, surfaces try to balance the ability of wheels to grip against the ability of the puck to slide freely. None of these surfaces, however, is as smooth as ice; as a result, the puck is made of a much lighter plastic material, and rests on small nylon or poly-plastic nubs to reduce friction with the rink surface.

Besides these equipment differences, inline hockey is generally a less physical sport. Most leagues punish fighting harshly, and body checking is usually a penalty. Leagues generally require players to wear full face masks, but otherwise, players tend to wear lighter clothes and less protective padding.

There are other rules differences as well. Each team fields only four skaters (plus a goaltender), rather than ice hockey's five. Many leagues do not stop play for icing. Offside rules are generally looser as well; originally, a few leagues would call offside only on the center line, presently, every rule book omits the rule entirely.

Protective equipment is mostly the same with ice hockey

Inline hockey is a contact sport. Although body checks are usually not allowed, injuries can still be a common occurrence. Protective equipment is highly recommended and is enforced in all competitive situations. This usually includes a helmet (cage worn if certain age), elbow pads, protective gloves, athletic cup, shin pads, and skates at the very least. In addition, goaltenders use different gear, (optionally) a neck guard, chest/arm protector, blocker, catch glove, and leg pads.

The area where Inline hockey is played in known as a “rink.” It consists of a playing surface that is surrounded by a boundary (commonly referred to as “dasher boards”), that is designed to separate the players from the spectators as well as to keep the puck in play. The playing surface is made of sport tile, wood, asphalt or cement and marked with special lines that help the referees officiate the game according to the official rules.

The recommended size of the rink can vary between 40m and 60m in length and 20m and 30m in width. In Germany the old standard was 40m x 20m which changed to 50m x 25m but also the ice hockey standard of 61m x 30.5m (200×100ft) is used.

An international match between Latvia and Czech Republic

While the general characteristics of the game are the same wherever it is played, the exact rules depend on the particular code of play being used. The most important code is that of the Comité International Roller In-Line Hockey (CIRILH), an organization and discipline of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports[5]

Inline hockey is played on an inline hockey rink. During normal play, there are five players per side on the floor at any time, one of them being the goaltender, each of whom is on inline hockey skates. The objective of the game is to score goals by shooting a hard plastic disc, the puck, into the opponent's goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink. The players may control the puck using a long stick with a blade that is commonly curved at one end.

Players may also redirect the puck with any part of their bodies, subject to certain restrictions. Players may not hold the puck in their hand and are prohibited from using their hands to pass the puck to their teammates, unless they are in the defensive zone. Players are also prohibited from kicking the puck into the opponent's goal, though unintentional redirections off the skate are permitted. Players may not intentionally bat the puck into the net with their hands.

The four players other than the goaltender are typically divided into two forwards and two defencemen. The forward positions consist of a center and a winger. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair generally divided between left and right. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Teams typically employ alternate sets of forward lines and defensive pairings when shorthanded or on a power play. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the course of the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it is called changing on the fly.

The boards surrounding the floor help keep the puck in play and they can also be used as tools to play the puck. Players are not permitted to "bodycheck" opponents into the boards as a means of stopping progress. The referees and the outsides of the goal are "in play" and do not cause a stoppage of the game when the puck or players are influenced (by either bouncing or colliding) into them. Play can be stopped if the goal is knocked out of position. Play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. When play is stopped, it is restarted with a faceoff. Two players "face" each other and an official drops the puck to the floor, where the two players attempt to gain control of the puck. Markings on the floor indicate the locations for the "faceoff" and guide the positioning of players.

There is one major rule of play in inline hockey that limit the movement of the puck: the puck going out of play. The puck goes "out of play" whenever it goes past the perimeter of the rink (onto the player benches, over the "glass," or onto the protective netting above the glass) and a stoppage of play is called by the officials using whistles. It also does not matter if the puck comes back onto the playing surface from those areas as the puck is considered dead once it leaves the perimeter of the rink.

Under FIRS rules, each team may carry a maximum of 14 players and two goaltenders on their roster. The players are usually divided into three lines of two forwards, two pairs of defenceman, and two extra skaters.

For most penalties, the offending player is sent to the "penalty box" and his team has to play with one less skater for a short amount of time. Minor penalties last for two minutes, major penalties last for five minutes, and a double minor penalty is two consecutive penalties of two minutes duration. A single Minor penalty may be extended by a further two minutes for drawing blood from the victimized player. The team that has taken the penalty is said to be playing shorthanded while the other team is on a power play.

A two-minute minor penalty is often called for lesser infractions such as tripping, elbowing, roughing, high-sticking, delay of the game, too many players on the rink, boarding, illegal equipment, holding, interference, hooking, slashing, butt-ending (striking an opponent with the knob of the stick—a very rare penalty) or cross-checking. A minor is also assessed for diving, where a player embellishes a hook or trip. More egregious fouls may be penalized by a four-minute double-minor penalty, particularly those which cause injury to the victimized player. These penalties end either when the time runs out or the other team scores on the power play. In the case of a goal scored during the first two minutes of a double-minor, the penalty clock is set down to two minutes upon a score effectively expiring the first minor penalty. Five-minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions that result in intentional injury to an opponent, or when a "minor" penalty results in visible injury (such as bleeding), as well as for fighting. Major penalties are always served in full; they do not terminate on a goal scored by the other team.

Some varieties of penalties do not always require the offending team to play a man short. Concurrent five-minute major penalties in the FIRS usually result from fighting. In the case of two players being assessed five-minute fighting majors, they both serve five minutes without their team incurring a loss of player (both teams still have a full complement of players on the floor). This differs with two players from opposing sides getting minor penalties, at the same time or at any intersecting moment, resulting from more common infractions. In that case, both teams will have only three skating players (not counting the goaltender) until one or both penalties expire (if one expires before the other, the opposing team gets a power play for the remainder); this applies regardless of current pending penalties, though in the FIRS, a team always has at least two skaters on the rink. Ten-minute misconduct penalties are served in full by the penalized player, but his team may immediately substitute another player on the floor unless a minor or major penalty is assessed in conjunction with the misconduct (a two-and-ten or five-and-ten). In that case, the team designates another player to serve the minor or major; both players go to the penalty box, but only the designee may not be replaced, and he is released upon the expiration of the two or five minutes, at which point the ten-minute misconduct begins. In addition, game misconducts are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict severe injury on an opponent (at the officials' discretion), or for a major penalty for a stick infraction or repeated major penalties. The offending player is ejected from the game and must immediately leave the playing surface (he does not sit in the penalty box); meanwhile, if a minor or major is assessed in addition, a designated player must serve out that segment of the penalty in the box (similar to the above-mentioned "two-and-ten"). In some rare cases, a player may receive up to nineteen minutes in penalties for one string of plays. This could involve receiving a four-minute double minor penalty, getting in a fight with an opposing player who retaliates, and then receiving a game misconduct after the fight. In this case, the player is ejected and two teammates must serve the double-minor and major penalties.

A player who is tripped, or illegally obstructed in some way, by an opponent on a breakaway – when there are no defenders except the goaltender between him and the opponent's goal – is awarded a penalty shot, an attempt to score without opposition from any defenders except the goaltender. A penalty shot is also awarded for a defender other than the goaltender covering the puck in the goal crease, a goaltender intentionally displacing his own goal posts during a breakaway to avoid a goal, a defender intentionally displacing his own goal posts when there is less than two minutes to play in regulation time or at any point during overtime, or a player or coach intentionally throwing a stick or other object at the puck or the puck carrier and the throwing action disrupts a shot or pass play.

Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, such as using one's hands to pass the puck in the offensive end, but no players are penalized for these offenses. The sole exceptions are deliberately falling on or gathering the puck to the body, carrying the puck in the hand, and shooting the puck out of play in one's defensive zone (all penalized two minutes for delay of game).

A typical game of inline hockey has two officials on the floor, charged with enforcing the rules of the game. There are typically two referees who call goals and penalties. Due to not having offside and icing violations, there usually are no linesmen used. On-ice officials are assisted by off-ice officials who act as time keepers, and official scorers.

Officials are selected by the league for which they work. Amateur hockey leagues use guidelines established by national organizing bodies as a basis for choosing their officiating staffs. In North America, the national organizing bodies USA Roller Sports and Canada Inline approve officials according to their experience level as well as their ability to pass rules knowledge and skating ability tests.

A professional game consists of two halves of twenty minutes each, the clock running only when the puck is in play. The teams change ends for the second half, and again at the start of each overtime played (playoffs only; same ends as the second half otherwise). Some leagues such as the American Inline Hockey League (AIHL), recreational leagues and children's leagues often play shorter games, generally with two shorter periods or three running clock periods of play.

Various procedures are used if a game is tied. Some leagues and tournaments do not use an overtime, unless a "winner" must be determined, such as in tournament pool play and league regular season. Others will us either one, or a combination of; sudden death overtime periods, or penalty shootouts. Usually up to two 5-minute sudden death overtimes are played; if still tied, penalty shootouts.

Indoor inline hockey is played on any suitable non-slip surface. While converted roller rinks may use wooden floors, dedicated inline hockey facilities use Sport Court or similar surface, which allows maximum traction to inline hockey wheels whilst providing a smooth, unbroken gliding surface for the puck. The playing area should be surrounded by full boards similar to ice hockey with glass or fencing to a height of around 2m. Often, especially in European countries, the game is played in indoor sports halls, on wooden floors. Therefore, there will be no standardized boards but instead the perimeter of the playing surface will be brick walls. In such cases, the corners of the hall are rounded off with added curved boards.

Based on Ice Sledge Hockey, Inline Sledge Hockey is played to the same rules as Inline Puck Hockey (essentially ice hockey played off ice using inline skates) and has been made possible by the design and manufacture of inline sledges by RGK, Europe's premier sports wheelchair maker.

There is no classification points system dictating who can be involved in play within Inline Sledge Hockey unlike other team sports such as Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Rugby. Inline Sledge Hockey is being developed to allow everyone, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, to complete up to World Championship level based solely on talent and ability. This makes Inline Sledge Hockey truly inclusive.

The first game of Inline Sledge Hockey was played at Bisley, England on 19 December 2009 between the Hull Stingrays and the Grimsby Redwings. Matt Lloyd (Paralympian) is credited with inventing Inline Sledge Hockey and Great Britain is seen as the international leader in the games development.

There are two lines of sanctioning bodies for inline hockey: those that are related to the roller sports community and those related to the ice hockey community. The International Ice Hockey Federation organizes IIHF Inline Hockey World Championships but the sport is recognized as being governed by the International Roller Sports Federation which organizes FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships.

USA Roller Sports is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee to oversee roller sports. See the related links below for national bodies and further information.

• Roller Hockey International
• IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship
• FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships
• Street hockey
• Skater hockey
• Indoor field hockey

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inline hockey.

• National Roller Hockey League