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From: [e-mail] (Tony Chen)
Subject: rec.skate Frequently Asked Questions (Part 3 of 7)
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Posted-By: auto-faq 1.23
Archive-name: rec-skate-faq/part3


REC.SKATE FAQ - PART 3:  (ROLLER)HOCKEY (draft)

Contents:
- general hockey FAQ
- info on sticks

================================================================================

                        Inline Hockey FAQ File
                        """"""""""""""""""""""

This file reflects the observations of our small group's trial-and-error
approach to organizing and playing hockey on inline skates, as well as
advice from other rec.skate and rec.sport.hockey readers.  We've done a
lot of experimenting with gear, play, etc. and it is hoped that our
experiences will be helpful to others getting involved in this fun and
fast-paced sport.

Tony Chen, our besieged FAQ administrator here on rec.skate, has been good
enough to take responsibility for posting this FAQ along with the other,
less colloquial ones, being a more responsible person than myself.  So you
are invited to Email him with praise.  If, however, you have comments or
additions to the hockey FAQ, Email them to me at [e-mail].

                                                    Thomas Darling (RW)


GEAR """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
_________
Sticks //  Many of our players use standard street hockey sticks, with
______//  wooden shafts and plastic blades.  These seem to survive the
surface with minimal wear.  However, those more experienced players
(former ice hockey players all) prefer wooden ice hockey sticks, with taped
blades, for superior puck control.  These obviously wear down a lot
faster than on ice, being scraped across concrete and leant on for power
turns.  Once the blade is taped, a razor is used to trim off the bottom 1cm
or so to prevent fraying.

Perhaps the benefits of wooden ice hockey sticks are predominantly
psychological, based on the familiarity factor.  But to those of us who
use them, they "feel" better and therefore give us better results.

If you decide to use a plastic-bladed street hockey stick, you should
make sure to get one long enough for you to use when on your skates;
most street hockey sticks are designed to be used on foot.  There are many
schools of thought on determining stick length, which like anything else,
eventually comes down to matters of personal preference and style of play.
But as a rule of thumb for beginners, try to get a stick that comes up to
somewhere between your chin and nose.  You can always cut it later if you
wish.

Todd <[e-mail]> offers these additional suggestions:

"I work closely with some friends [who] own a Hockey store out here in
the San Jose/San Francisco area; we have used several different types of
sticks on the street surfaces.  One of the best sticks to use on any
street surface is the KOHO 2200 Ultimate, with a poly-tech blade on the
end of a wooden hockey stick.  It does not wear thin as quick as a mylec
stick... Easton makes an aluminum street hockey stick...it is a good
stick, but not better than regular hockey aluminum versions... The last
stick to try is the Bauer Street Hockey stick: all wood with a poly-tech
blade on the end, just for street hockey use."

"Mylec blades, you can go through 1-2 a month if playing 3-4 times a week.
I've gone that route too."

And this from Michael Quinn <[e-mail]>:"For a stick, I
used an old ice hockey stick with a plastic replacement
blade.  Incidentally, I was up in Boston last week and saw a neat looking
rubber brake that screws onto the shaft of a hockey stick near the blade.
I didn't get a chance to try one out though.  They sell them at Sports
Etc. on Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington."

Comments from anyone who has tried this stick-mounted brake would be
appreciated.
________
Pucks //  Sun Hockey makes a nifty three-wheeled puck called the "Hot
_____//  Puck."  The puck is hard rubber, and the "wheels" are three teflon
balls that protrude through the top and bottom.  Advantages: It appears to
be regulation size and weight, and it feels great against the stick.  It's
an extremely cool design.  Disadvantage: It doesn't work.  Even on the most
ideal surface (we tried it on a tennis court-type deck), it bounces,
flips, and ends up rolling on its edge more than on the "wheels."  I really
wish they'd come up with a better functioning design, because the feel and
idea are sound.

Since the Sun puck doesn't happen, we use Mylec street hockey balls.  They
come in three different colours, coded for different temperatures.  The
orange one works best so far; minimal bounce, but a bit light.  Be
aware that the temperature type of the puck is important; we've heard
of a warm-weather ball that shattered when used in cold weather.

Also be aware that there are cheaper balls out there, and some of them
suuuuuuck.  We've even encountered one that was unevenly weighted and
textured.  Not good.  Since the Mylec balls are only a couple of dollars,
there's no reason not to get the real thing.

Nobody's completely happy with this compromise, but it's the best option
we've seen so far for outside play.

As for inside play, Marc <[e-mail]> adds:

"When we play outside, we usually use an orange Mylec, but it bounces too
much for inside play so there we use a Viceroy, which also weighs about
twice as much.  They are made in Canada, and I don't know where you might
get them other than a good well stocked hockey shop.  We all tend to use
the Viceroy in tournaments."
__________
Padding //  Checking is a bit less frequent in the inline game, which
_______//  is good, because the summer heat makes heavy padding out of the
question.  Hardshell knee pads are a necessity, because everyone
occasionally collides with the boards or the ground.  Elbow pads are also
highly recommended.

Those nifty wristguards are probably a good idea for skating and training,
but for all practical purposes it is impossible to hold a hockey stick with
them.  This is OK, because you can use the stick to break your fall in many
circumstances, and you can't build up huge speeds in a small rink anyway.

Opinions vary on hand protection.  Some players prefer ice hockey gloves.
They provide superb protection against sticks, decent padding for when you
get crunched, and enough finger coverage to make hand passes safe.  On the
other hand, they tend to be very hot.  Many of us opt instead for
weightlifting gloves, the fingerless mesh kind with leather palms.  These
allow your hands to stay cool, yet prevent the loss of skin when you're
knocked sprawling.  They allow good stick control.  Just don't go grabbing
the puck with 'em, lest your fingers be rolled over/chopped off.

(Note: Weightlifting gloves are difficult to dramatically throw down.  So
if you get into a violent confrontation, you may incur a few bruises while
trying frantically to peel them off.  If you play this way, be careful.)

Another option is to use a cheap pair of Nylon hockey gloves.  They're
still a bit warm, but considerably lighter than leather gloves and you're
less apt to be concerned about beating them up.
_________________
Eye Protection //  It's always been too hot to wear my helmet.  Ray-Bans
______________//  look cool, and are better than nothing.  Use one of those
goofy ShadeStraps so they don't go flying when you get cross-checked from
behind.
______________
Goalie Gear //  A good mask is essential, regardless of puck type.  Either
___________//  a cage-type ice hockey mask or an inexpensive Mylec mask
will do.  An ice hockey stick is highly recommended, since they tend to be
larger than their street hockey counterparts.  Any variety of blocker will
suffice.  If you're playing with a ball of some kind rather than a puck,
we've found that using a baseball glove for a catcher will give good
results.

In regards to leg pads, the cheapest Mylec ones appear to work the best.
Since they're made of hard plastic, a goalie can slide on his knees in
them, which improves effectiveness.

Marc [[e-mail]], a Texas hockey veteran, adds:
"When I goalie I usually wear a cage helmet (since I wear glasses), elbow
pads, a blocker on the right hand and a catcher's mitt in the left, a
catcher's chest protector on my chest and belly (with my Dead Wings jersey
over that), a cup and the Mylec leg pads, along with the skates.  I
usually wear a t-shirt under the chest pad, also.  I've suited up like
that twice a week all summer down here and have lost about 10 pounds.
Most other goalies in the Metroplex use either a large softball mitt or a
regular goalie's mitt, but I had the catcher's mitt to begin with and
find that I am used to it and can't use a regular glove very well."

SKATES """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
__________________
Choice of Skate //  ...depends on playing style and the ever-important ice-
_______________//  hockey familiarity factor.  As an ice-hockey player, I
use Bauer XS/5's with the brake removed.  They're all laces, no buckles,
and are nice and light.  They've got good bearings (hence decent speed)
and strong frames.

The most popular skate among our skaters is the Rollerblade Zetra 303.
It's a little heavy and clunky, but has an extremely durable boot, which is
good if you like to plant yourself in front of the goalie and get your
ankles whacked at a lot.

I also might recommend the Gretzky Ultra Wings.  They're all buckles and
kind of heavy, but durable enough to stand up to hockey abuse.

The bottom line, really, is that you can make do with what you've got.  One
of our best players uses el cheapo skates (Phantoms?), yet still manages to
come up with the breakaways and finesse plays.
____________
Rockering //  None of us rocker our frames.  I know that every book in
_________//  the world says that you should rocker them for hockey, but
the difference in turning ability (especially at high speeds) is
negligible.  All that appeared to be seriously affected were speed,
traction and stability, none for the better.
_________
Wheels //  So far, we haven't experimented greatly with different wheels.
______//  I've used both hard and soft, and liked the hard ones better,
since they last longer and feel better on grinding stops and turns.
Rollerblade makes a "Hockey Wheel" with better perimeter width (to reflect
the need for stopping/turning over straightaway speed), but since they're
hubless and generally cheap-looking, nobody has picked any up yet.  Any
comments on these wheels would be welcome.

We've heard that "Turbo Core" type wheels (with spokes instead of solid
hubs) don't stand up to the stresses of hockey well.  Those skaters I know
who use such wheels have reported no problems, but the net.consensus on
this is that "spoke" breakage does happen, so it bears repeating here.

TECHNIQUES """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
____________________
Stick Turns/Stops //  Many of us ice-hockey players are aggrivated by
_________________//  the limited turning and stopping ability of inline
skates.  A typical drag stop (rear foot 90 degrees against leading foot)
works in most circumstances.  But another good technique is the stick
stop.

In this stop, the skater begins a tight turn towards his stick side.  For
this example, we'll use a right-handed skater.  Right foot forward, he
makes a tight turn, putting his stick blade down (to the right) in the
process.  He leans against the stick, grinding his left foot outwards,
until coming to a stop.  With practice, one can even hang onto the puck
while executing this stop.

Sometimes, when going very fast, I find that I must crouch low to keep
pressure on the outer foot -- often to such a degree that the boot, instead
of the wheels, makes contact with the ground.  This gets good results, but
is not recommended for less durable boots.

The same technique is used in the stick turn.  The skater uses the same
combination of tight turn and stick friction, but instead of using the
stick as a mere brake, uses it as a pivot point to make a tighter turn and
continue on in a new direction.
____________________
Goalie Techniques //  The best bet for goalies, in many cases, is simply
_________________//  not to wear skates.  A sneakered goalie has
side-to-side mobility and backwards control that are difficult to match on
skates of any kind.  As long as the goalie doesn't leave the crease for
extended periods (i.e. Ron Hextall lead-the-rush-up-ice maneuvres), this
makes for fair and fun gameplay.

As previously mentioned, hard plastic Mylec street hockey leg pads are
recommended.  A good goalie can fearlessly slide about in them, making for
a more ice-like game.


SURFACES """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Generally speaking, you're stuck with whatever your area offers.  For
economical reasons, we've been playing on street-hockey decks, which have
asphalt or cement surfaces and decent boards all around.  One such surface
is quite good; very smooth cement approaching tennis court quality.  It's a
decent drive for most of us, but worth it; we've played on a rougher
surface and it's exhausting.

There are also commercial venues available in our area.  One huge indoor
facility has a perfect surface, good nets, an electronic scoreboard, you
name it.  It's also $70/hour, but with enough people playing a real game,
this can be cost-effective.  I imagine similar facilities exist in most
major metropolitan areas.


RULES """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Our goal is to be as ice hockey-like as possible.  In the reduced size of
most street-hockey decks, 4 skaters per side is probably the realistic
maximum.  And we'd like to someday have enough players for full 60-minute
change-on-the-fly games, but for the time being it looks like three 10
minute periods with no line changes and frequent timeouts.

When we can, we aspire to NHL rules.  With 10-minute periods, half-length
penalties are probably best (1 minute or 2.5 minutes).  Enforcement of
offsides and icing are a matter of taste; they make for less fluid gameplay
and are a distraction for single refs without benefit of linesmen.  I'd be
interested in hearing how other players deal with this.

Best of luck to anyone getting started in the game; may you find all the
players you need and a prime surface.  If you live in the Philadelphia/
South Jersey area, we invite you to join us!  Interested parties can Email
me directly, or reach me on the Cellar BBS (the number is in my .sig).
We play Sundays, are still organizing for fall, and would welcome any new
participants.

PRACTICE TECHNIQUES """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Can't round up 8+ skaters and 2 goalies for a game?  Here's a basic game
you can play with as few as 4 people that's fun and great practice for
basic hockey skills.

'  "Hockeyball"
'
'  Gear: Inline skates, sticks, pads, ball, chalk.
'
'  Play Surface:  Ideally, you'll want an area with clearly-defined edges.
'  A low-traffic street, school driveway, or the like is ideal, since
'  passes can be bounced off the curbs.  With chalk, mark off end lines
'  150-200' apart (depending on skaters' respiratory health and number
'  of players), as well as a faceoff mark at centre ice:
'
'  curb -> ========================================================
'              |                                               |
'  end line -> |                       x                       |
'              |                                               |
'          ========================================================
'
'  The rules are simple.  To score a goal, a skater must cross his
'  opponent's goal line WHILE IN CONTROL OF THE PUCK/BALL.  If the
'  ball goes over a team's end line with no one in control, that team
'  takes the ball back into play from behind the line (the puck must
'  then precede them over the line coming back into play).
'
'  If the ball goes out of play, a faceoff will take place at the point
'  of exit.
'
'  After every score, begin again with a centre-ice faceoff.
'
'  Play to a predetermined point (first to 7, for instance).  No time
'  limits.

Besides being a total blast (the Canadian equivalent of urban half-court
pickup basketball), this game is good practice for a variety of skills
including skating, passing, puck control, checking (the way we play it,
anyway -- this is optional) and basic strategy (crossing over and the
like).

If you want a different challenge, or to handicap a side, try playing
against a team with one or more players on sneakers instead of skates.
You'll be able to outrun them in long hauls, but they can kill you with
sudden stops/direction changes/accelleration/etc.


CREDITS """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Thanks for the following for their field testing and other assistance in
the preparation of this file:

Anton "Slapshot" Shepps (LW), Dan Reed (LW), Chris "Nate" Collins (G),
Earl Scheib (D, no relation), Rachel MacGregor (D), Steve "Doc" Roth (D),
Rob "Franchise" Tedesco (RW), N.Y. State Assemblyman Allan K. Race (C,
Democrat), Heather "Hanover" Pfister (LW), Robert Jennings (G), and
"Pittsburgh" Bob Safier (C).

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^\\\^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Thomas A. Darling \\\ Fact HQ Studio * record production * dance re-mixing
[e-mail] \\\ music for film * The Cellar BBS:215/654-9184 * FACT
v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~\\\~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~

===========================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Nancy Piltch)
Subject: Selection of hockey sticks
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 3 Dec 91 21:46:00 GMT

Sometime in the past Phil asked if anyone could write a guide to
selecting hockey sticks, which has apparently been met with
resounding silence. I think I can help, at least for those just
entering the sport. Bear in mind, though, that while I've played a
good deal of intramural and pick-up hockey, I've never had any
formal coaching, so I'm sure there are others more knowledgeable.
This will be especially true of the subtle differences among sticks
that will matter to expert players.

Please feel free to correct my misstatements, clarify what is unclear,
and add what I've left out.

The main criteria in selection of hockey sticks are "handedness",
lie, length, and curvature.  All of these are largely a matter of
personal preference.

1. "Handedness": A hockey player will decide whether s/he prefers holding
the stick to the left side or the right. There appears to be no
strong correlation to the person's handedness. A new player should try
it both ways, and find the one that feels most natural. Sticks are
labeled either L or R, but since French-speaking Canada generates large
numbers of hockey players, the stick may be labeled G (gauche) or
D (droit). Some sticks carry both letters, i.e. L/G. A few sticks are
neutral and can be used either way.

2. Lie: This refers to the angle the stick makes with the blade. A higher
lie is closer to upright than a lower lie. While there are lots of
exceptions, a player who prefers to skate more upright will prefer a
higher lie, and a player who prefers to skate more bent over will take
a lower lie. Taller players also generally use higher lies. Again, a
new player should test several different lies to see what feels
comfortable. The most common lies are 5, 6, and 7. This is the rest
of the labeling on a hockey stick: a 6R means a lie of 6 in a right
handed stick. Exaggerating the drawings:

         .                 .
       .                  .
     .                   .
____                ____

 5                    7

3. Length: I've been told that a stick should come up to about the
player's chin while wearing skates, but I find this uncomfortable.
I think it's more realistic to have it come to about the armpit or
a little below; again, this is preference.

4. Curvature: A more curved blade allows the puck to be flipped more
effectively for better shooting, but at the price of poorer passing
and receiving. A beginner should start with a gently curved
stick. A neutral stick, which I referred to above in the section on
handedness, has no curvature.

The blade of a stick should be taped. This helps prolong the life of
the blade and improves puck-handling capability. It's always black
tape, never white. The conventional wisdom is that a goalie can't
see the puck as well against a black blade, but my feeling is that
a good goalie will see the puck. My personal opinion is that it is
black because of tradition.

The wear pattern on the tape can show whether a skater has selected
the proper lie. If the wear is toward the heel/toe of the blade the
skater should try a lower/higher lie.

A lot of players also tape the top of the blade for better grip.

Sticks also differ in weight; again this is personal preference.


Nancy Piltch            [e-mail]
NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland Ohio 44135


From: [e-mail]
Subject: Sticks and Pucks (was Re: Selection of hockey sticks)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 4 Dec 91 18:17:48 GMT

Some other stuff to augment the stick info:

I often tape my sticks with white tape!  I think the tape matter is more
whether you use the friction tape (normally black) or the general
cloth tape used for taping around socks, skate tops, and equipment, which
is usually white, but comes in all colors.  I prefer the smoother white
tape
to the friction tape on my blade.  There are a fair amount of players on
our
team that like this too.  It is really a matter of preference.

I had never heard that the black tape makes it hard for the goalie to
see the
puck coming off of your stick, but this makes a lot of sense!  I should
start
buying the cloth tape in black just for my stick blades!

I use black friction tape to tape the top end of my stick, for a good
grip.  This deposits black gunk on your gloves, but the grip is good.
Players will often wrap a ball of tape called a "butt-end" to the very
top of the stick to
stop it from slipping out of your hands.  Another trick is to roll up a
long
piece of tape lengthwise into a long string, and wrap it around the top
handle of the stick (kind of like a barber shop pole) prior to taping up
the stick top.  This gives you a spiral stripe grip underneith the flat
tape, that also helps you hold onto your stick better.

For roller hockey, I use the plastic Mylec blades (cost about $2.50)
attached to shaft from an ice hockey stick that had a broken blade.  I
just saw off the broken wooden blade, and attach the plastic replacement.
Mylec (and others) sell plastic bladed sticks with wooden shafts.

The stick manufacturer "Montreal" makes a stick that is supposedly for
street and ice hockey.  It is basically has a hard graphite housing
around the whole blade and lower part of the shaft of the stick.   These
are expensive, and I've never seen anyone use one for ice hockey, but a
lot of
the street hockey players like them because they stay stiff like wooden
blades, not flex a lot like the plastic ones.

Some other sticks that are availble for ice and street hockey are
aluminum shafts.  I use an aluminum stick shaft for ice hockey now.  The
blades are wooden with a glue on the top end.  One heats the end of the
metal shaft and the glue end of the blade with a powerful hair dryer and
then you slide the glued end into the shaft.  When it cools, the metal
contracts and the combination of this with the glue holds the blade in
place.  When the blade breaks, you heat it up again to remove it, and
put on a new one.  The blades themselves cost a little less than a whole
new stick, and the shaft is a one time charge.  They have also come out
with these for street hockey, using blades similar to the Montreal
sticks described above.

Some players like the aluminum shafts because they are light, and can
come in more flexible or more stiff grades.  This allows a player to
have a stick with the feel s/he likes and also have at least the shaft
portion of the
stick be consistent, since only the blade is replaced.  Even two of the
same
brand and model stick can be different in weight and flex, since the
wood may be from 2 different trees, etc.

Whew, my original intention was not for this to be so long winded, Nancy
covered most of the stick stuff (very well too!) in her post, but since
I'm on a roll..........

Pucks and Balls:

 In ice hockey, one uses a hard black rubber puck, 3" in diameter, and
(I think) 3/4" in thickness.   The puck is usually frozen before a game
so it's temperature matches that of the ice, and it can slide better.

For street/roller/floor hockey, there are more options.  I've used 3
types of pucks:

1) very hard plastic pucks -- These can be use for street or floor
hockey, but usually aren't as they are really hard and hurt a lot if you
get hit with one and have little protection (usually the case with
street hockey).  This is
all we had when I was little, and looking back, I can't believe we used
to use these things all the time!  On hard surfaces, these skip up etc.
when new, but as soon as the edges get chewed up a bit and round out,
they slide
pretty well, even on asphalt.

2)  soft hollow plastic pucks -- These are only good for really smooth
surfaces..  We use these on gym floors.  They don't even work very well
on tennis courts, which is where we usually play roller hockey.  They are
great for floor hockey in a gym though.

3)  softer plastic pucks with rollers -- These were an attempt to make a
lighter puck that would slide better on rougher outdoor surfaces.  They
aren't great, but are better than (2) above outdoors.  They often end up
rolling on their edges, or coming apart at the seams if someone takes a
hard shot!  All in all, not great.

Hockey balls:

Hockey balls are usually used for street hockey and DEK hockey (a game
played in rinks built with a special plastic surface by Mylec).  The
balls are
hollow flexible plastic, and work well on all types of surfaces.   They
come in different hardnesses for different weather conditions, surfaces
etc. (softer for winter and less abrasive surfaces, harder for summer
and more abrasive surfaces).  They require slightly different skills
than using a puck
though.

=END OF PART 3=================================================================