New rink

[nimbus906]

I have been playing roller hockey for between four and five years now but I have only played at one rink in that time and have become one of the respect goalies at this establishment. I start playing ice 1.5 years ago and have played all over the state. I have had no problems playing anywhere I have gone (not counting the occasional off night) NHL ice or olympic ice it hasn't mattered. But last night for the first time I played roller hockey at a new rink that recently open near my house. This rink is drastically smaller than the one I am used to by about 50% there is no offsides and no icing. The team we played was made up of good players from my normal rink so I knew how they would shoot and what type of game they would try to play. But it didn't help me. The new rink is sport court where as I am used to a painted asphault type surface. To make a long story longer I got destroyed so badly in two periods that I asked a goalie that had gotten dressed for the next game early to play the rest of the game. I did not expect the change in surface or rink size to effect my game so much has anyone else notice this type of situation and if so were you eventually able to aclimate yourself to the new environment.

[moogy35]

I play in Boston mostly, but I've played on many tournament teams around the country. We usually play on normal size rinks. The rinks aren't Olympic size. Most of the courts are sport court.

The biggest difference that you probably noticed was how your wheels grip on the asphalt compared to sport court. If you are going to keep play there you might want to get softer wheels.

All the tournaments I have played in have the same rules, no icing or offsides. If the puck hits the netting it is still in play. Mostly running time.

I played in Lake Placid and we played on a fairly large rink that was covered with Ice Court. The rules were different (but it was for international play). The net was even smaller (I think 6 inches). That was an exception though.

Do you play in leagues or tournaments too?

PS:I'm new to the board so I don't know anyone yet.

[nimbus906]

I thought that wheels might be an issue because some people mentioned that. But I didn't have any problems in that area. The rink that I play on for roller is NHL regulation size or very close to it but the rink I played on last night was I guess maybe roller regulation but I felt as thought it was extremely small. I was noticing that when players were at the faceoff dots inside my zone if I would challenge out to my usual depth that it seemed like I was on top of them. So it forced me to stay deeper in the net which with the speed of the shots leaves to much open net for the shooters. Another problem I had was that the surface was a light powder blue color and the ball they were using was light green. For me atleast I was having a great deal of trouble tracking it off of players sticks as where a couple of guys were using a puck in warm ups red in color and I stopped every shot. I am not sur whether or not I am ever going to play there I mean I would blame the team for seeking another goalie plus playing there until one were able to get acostum to playing there is a real confidence killer for the other leagues that I play in.

To answer you question I only play in leagues I have never played in tournement.

[moogy35]

I think one of the biggest thing is that you are playing with a ball. I had a lot of problems with that, so now I only play in puck leagues. I wear all of my ice hockey stuff and I couldn't feel the ball when I made a save. We have the same color floor and the ball leagues use an orange ball. That green ball would be so hard to see. I don't think that the green ball will last long in that rink. I hear what you are saying about challenging the players and being very close to them. If you're not having fun then I think you shouldn't play. If you have a chance and more leagues open up you should play in a puck league. They are so much fun and I think you would like it much more!

[nimbus906]

you are definitely right about not being able to feel the ball. unfortunately the are no roller puck leagues in my area. I think the nearest rink to my house that uses a puck is about an hour away. My usual rink uses the ball but you have so much more time to see shots. If I end up going back I will bring some of the orange balls with me and see if the refs will use them during the game. I tell you though since I started playing ice roller hasn't nearly been as much fun. I would stop playing and just play ice but the teams that I play for I have been playing with for quite awhile now and it would be hard to tell them that I don't want to play anymore.

[KDB]

That light green color is about the worst color for the standard Sport Court blue floor...

[Gimpish Goalie]

just skip playin there go back to the cool respected place

[DafoeFan34]

When I started playing inline hockey I played at a very small facility. The dimensions were like 130x50. So needless to say players scoring from the redline or further out wasn't uncommon. One of the things you may notice is your reaction time is much shorter. The game is likely to be much faster since the rink is shorter. It may improve your reactions and your anticipation. I can tell you that it did for me. I did find that adjusting to a large rink was difficult coming from a small rink.

What I'm trying to say is that it may help you short term.