About Inline Hockey
Information provided by: WIKIPEDIA
The game is played by two teams, consisting of four skaters and one goalie, on a dry rink divided into two halves by a center line, with one net at each end of the rink. The inline hockey skate is similar to the ice hockey skate and differs from normal inline skates in the following ways:
- Inline hockey skates have no brake. Stopping is achieved at slow speeds by dragging one skate across the playing surface at an angle to the forward motion of the player (the "T-stop") and at high speeds by turning both skates simultaneously at 90 degrees to the forward motion of the player, in the same manner that ice skaters stop (the "Hockey Stop").
- The chassis is made from metal (often aluminum) to accommodate the stresses that stopping places on the skates, instead of plastic as is normally found in inline skates.
- A popular design for inline hockey skates is to have larger wheels on the back than the front. This is supposed to maximize both speed, where the back wheels are primarily in use, and turning, where the front wheels are in play.
- Hockey skates are generally lace-up instead of the 2/3 clip design of modern inline skates.
Rules and Equipment
Rules of the game vary by sanctioning body. For Calgary Roller Hockey League Rules see league rules. Briefly, each team is made up of a goalie, a defense man, and three forwards - a center and a right and left wing. Each side attempts to shoot the puck or ball into the opposing team's net. Play is stopped for goals, penalties, time out (usually limited to one per team per game), or the ball/puck going out of play.
Speed is chiefly only restricted by the ABEC scale rating of the bearings in the wheels. The ratings as of this writing are ABEC-3, ABEC-5, ABEC-7, ABEC-9, and "Swiss". The higher the rating, the faster the bearing. Grip is governed by the hardness or softness of the wheels. The hardness of a wheel is often referred to as the wheel's durometer.
The hockey sticks used in indoor inline hockey are the same as used for ice hockey
Sanctioning Bodies
There are two lines of sanctioning bodies for inline hockey: those that are related to the rollers sports community and those related to the ice hockey community. Worldwide inline hockey is governed by International Ice Hockey Federation which organizes IIHF Inline Hockey Word Championships.