Hockey

SKATES. The players wear inline skates,(commonly referred to as rollerblades) instead of ice skates.

SURFACE. Roller hockey is played on cement or a sport court instead of ice.

GAME FORMAT. Professional roller hockey games consist of four 12-minute quaters, with a 15-minute halftime. The quater format speeds up the play of the game significantly. Most roller hockey games are played in a two hour period.

NO TIES. If the game ends in a tie, a sudden death shootout decides the winner.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS. Roller hockey has five players on the rink at one time. The lineup includes one defenseman, three forwards, and one goalkeeper. this allows for a much faster style of play with more scoring than ice hockey games.

HARD CHECKING; NO FIGHTING. There is no difference between the hard checking of ice hockey and roller hockey, and there's pleanty of good clean contact. However, you won't see fighting. If a roller hockey player is called for fighting, he is immediately suspended without pay for one game.

ONE RED LINE AND NO BLUE LINES. Roller hockey has eliminated the blue lines. The center red line serves as the sole offside and icing line. This also allows for a more wide-open and higher scoring style of play.

HIGH SCORING. In 1993, RHI teames scored an average of 16.5 goals per game - that's about twice as many as many as professional ice hockey.

PLAYER COMPENSATION. Professional roller hockey players aren't paid salaries, but rather play for prize money, which is based on the regular season standings and on playoff performance. With the RHI's short season, that means every game is important to the teams - and the players.

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