regional appeal of ball vs puck?

[Cagey]

Instead of having it tour the country, i was reading that NHL Breakout will be held in Rhode Island- one event for all. I've played in it for 4 years, and it's fun, but certainly not a big enough deal to TRAVEL for (as you can see, I'm only in Massachusetts, but I just can't imagine anyone from farther away bothering.) . Half the fun was tailgating in the parking lot at the beach between games. I'm wondering if they have realized that nobody in the west or south play inline hockey on asphalt with a ball, thus the NE location and not bothering with the rest of North America?

Is ball hockey on skates akin to candlepin bowling- ie: a regional thing? We play ice hockey all year and roller hockey is what you do outside in nice weather with whoever's around till its too dark to see the ball. Even indoor sport court leagues use a ball here, mostly- because nobody wants to wear lots of pads in hot weather.

[Bernie]

That's a good thread dude. Here I know of no ball hockey leagues, and generally, we look at ball hockey much like Ice guys look at roller hockey. I have never done NHL breakout for 2 reasons:
1. Asphault and expensive equipment don't mix
2. Ball.

[Cagey]

I know what you mean- when talking inline hockey, it'll come up that I've done some and we used a ball and- *OH- a BALL? <cough> really! * So then I have to say, listen, I play ice hockey 12 months a year, I don't ask very much out of my roller hockey.

True about equipment! you have to wear old, cheap, light stuff with no performance attributes to play outside in summer. If I'm going to get sufficiently armored up to face pucks- and I know inline pucks are serious business- it might as well be nice cool ice. When you DO see an inline puck team here, we think- hey these guys take their roller hockey pretty seriously- we're just goofs.

Maybe this is an indoor-outdoor issue as well. Outdoor rinks in Boston are little, and the surface doesnt make using a puck worth it the way sport court does: thus the ball, thus the casual attitude toward the game here. It's 'hot' playing outside in Massachusetts in summer and everyone wants to wear as little armor as possible and will only risk the less painfull ball- I can't imagine anyone from any further south wanting to play outside in greater heat, so I guess you guys play indoors only and therefore higher-calibre inline?

[G-Man]

I've haven't seen any organized ball hockey around here for a long time. I only see balls used for informal parking lot games on rough surfaces.

There seems to have been a transition period when sport court was just becoming popular where leagues still had "ball divisions" for people who thought they preferred playing with a ball. They soon learned the truth and that went away

[Mr6Vezinas]

I haven't seen ball hockey in a while either, not since i used to play on the streets near my house. Then one day I was leaving the locker room after practice, and sure enough, there was a ball hockey game! The best part was that the goalies weren't even wearing skates! Oh, the memories...

Personally, I don't think i would be able to handle playing without skates anymore. Let alone, be able to handle a ball.

[Spike]

I played in an organized ball hockey league two years in a row now.
I wear my full gear, but we play indoors in a gym, and it's quite cool, possibly air conditioned.
I had street hockey pads last year, but my knees were being killed so I got new pads which will double for ice. I wear standard blocker and trapper, which were bought for ice but I wanted to break them in before, in game situations. Ball hockey seemed perfect. Pants, I wear my goalie pants because I had massive bruises on my thighs last season. Silly me. I could go without and tie some padding on my legs.
I wear my regular c/a (Kay) which is perfect. Being a girl, I prefer to not take a slapshot, even if it is a ball, to my chest. Any other female goalies will understand. I had more than my fair share of bruises the first year, using some old ratty baseball catcher's thing.
And of course, a helmet. I wear a helmet/cage combo with an Itech Nectech dangler, Hrudey style. I hate street hockey helmets.
Am I a wimp? maybe... But I prefer to not have bruises on my chest or be bashing my knees in. It's all in preparation for ice hockey, which I am anxiously awaiting. August or September.
Here in Ottawa, we take our ball hockey seriously. Except for the girls that is... But that's another story...

[WERNER 1]

Whoa! a hockey chick named spike

Sorry

The only ball hockey I can remember around here was played without skates. That league died out about 4 years ago.

When I started playing hockey back in the late 70's early 80's we used one of those hollow orange pucks, but we'd drill a small hole in the middle and fill it with sand, cover the hole with electrical tape, and then put about 6 or 7 raps of electrical tape around the outside edge of the puck( once we got into highschool the pucks started blow apart from the harder shots.). These things weighed almost as much as a ice hockey puck and my goalie gear consisted of a baseball chest protector, softbal glove, regular players glove for the blocker, home made goalie pads( the only reason I got to play goal was because I owned/made the pads ), and a regular players helmet with a cage........oh yeah, and a CUP!!( which I forgot on a few ocasions......and paid for it! )

We eventually graduated to roller( Quads ), but never once saw of used a ball.

It's kind of funny, some of the guys I grew up playing with, and still play hockey, still wear the quads......they crack me up!

[Bryan]

I don't play roller, but ball hockey is pretty much the standard around here if you aren't playing on ice.

The kids on the street always use a ball, and there are several ball hockey leagues that are for feet not inlines. Actually as far as I know feet ball hockey is still bigger than roller around here.

The thinking on all of this is pretty much what was already stated: If you are going to get all suited up, you might as well play the real game on ice.

[MillerTime247]

When I first started playing inline in NC about 4 years ago I was in a league that used a ball. Of course the "rink" consisted of one of those public skating rinks with a wood floor. Anyway, after facilities improved everyone began playing with a puck and I now know of no one playing inline with a ball.

There are still, however, some informal street/deck hockey leagues that play around here and they still use a ball.

Back to the wood surfaced death trap we used to play at. This place had the grippiest surface I have ever been on in my life, pads stuck more to it than they do to asphalt. There was also this 3" gap between the boards (made of carpet covered concrete) and the floor. Damn ball would get in there and you could not get it out, people would spear themselves trying.
Also there were no benches or doors just open gaps in the boards.

Sorry for the little rant just re-living some bad memories. Not good times, bad times.

MT

[ryanlaf]

I started out playing hockey on asphault with a ball with friends. However, It has been a while since I have seen any organized ball hockey around here. When I first started playing roller hockey in a league 6 or 7 years ago it was with a ball. That has changed though and now the leagues that I know of here in southern California play with pucks.

[KDB]

I played in the Breakout last time. Inflatable rinks and a ball is different experience, that's for sure. I don't think I'd like to play in a ball league, though.

[Spike]

We play organized ball, on feet (sneakers) as roller is non-existant around here.
Last year I went to watch a bit of Breakout, but seeing as my blades are awful and none of my guy friends wanted a girl as a goalie, I was SOL for participating. Blades being rollerblades, bought at K-mart 4 years ago... I do have my aggressives, but wouldn't want to kill them with sticks and stuff.
Werner: I've been mistaken for a guy many many times. I am called Spike because I spike my hair up in every which direction. And it has also been colored various colors, such as purple, blue and green.

Ball hockey here is quite popular amongst the guys, ball hockey in shoes that is. Amongst the girls, well there's a few that actually know what hockey is. The rest of the players in the league were people that were yanked out of basketball or soccer. So much fun! I wish I could go back to play with the guys (not that way!) But seeing what happened last time, I don't think that's a good idea.
I may participate in Breakout this year if I can find a team... Stupid not being a guy.

[Colin]

around here, we've eradicated the ball in all our leagues. A few years back we still used it only because there weren't enough goalies with the proper gear for puck.

We still use a ball for dekhockey...which is where it belongs.

As a goalie I've always hated playing with a ball first because the spins and improper balance of balls makes them frequently unpredictable and second, becuase with a ball any yahoo can roof it.

[avatarkava]

Originally posted by Colin
As a goalie I've always hated playing with a ball first because the spins and improper balance of balls makes them frequently unpredictable and second, becuase with a ball any yahoo can roof it.

Amen, brother.

On another note, I think the popularity of roller hockey on Long Island (where I am from) and in the Mid-Atlantic in general is due in part to two reasons: lack of availability of ice and finance.

One local rink on Long Island charges $500-650 per hour for ice time, depending on the time of day that you rent it. In contrast, you can rent some of the top-notch roller facilities for $250 an hour. Some of you may really be surprised by how badly they rape us in order to rent a rink, be it ice or roller.

The leagues are proportionately expensive, as ice is too expensive for most people to afford, and rarely has games at reasonable times. Many people can't play hockey at 1-2am, like some of these ice leagues schedule.

[Cagey]

WOW! In Boston, ice is $130-160/hr- i think we rented a roller court friday nights for $100 or $120 a few years ago.

I didnt realize you only had to go a few hundred miles south to find such a scarcity of ice. Sports marketing people often say that in the US hockey is pretty much a regional game (NE and MidWest) and if kids and adults can't play it easily/affordably in new "markets" then ultimately the pro franchises in those places will fail or move. Obviously the NHL is very well represented in the mid-atlantic, and though the Islanders seem to be for sale or about to move every few seasons, i hear its because of their bldg and lease.

We dont have pro roller hockey- that im aware of - in New England. I think New York has/d the nearest pro Inline team. How well did pro inline take in areas where its the more-often-played form of hockey? did people go? are there pro inline goalies that you'd recognize and want to emulate? Or do roller goalies look primarily to ice for their heroes?