Major League Roller Hockey

Major League Roller Hockey (MLRH)

The MLRH Logo
Sport	Inline hockey
Founded	2008, Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Commissioner	Doug Jones
Inaugural season	1998
No. of teams	15
Country(ies)	United States (15 teams)
Continent	North America
Most recent champion(s)	Mission Axiom (1st title)
Most titles	Marple Gladiators (1 title)
TV partner(s)	Roller Hockey TV
Official website	www.MLRH.com

Major League Roller Hockey (MLRH) is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a professional inline hockey league of 15 franchised member clubs, all of which are located in the United States. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, MLRH is the only full contact professional inline hockey league in the world. The MLRH World Championship is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The league was organized in 1998 in Alexandria, Virginia, United States, after the suspension of operations of a predecessor organization, Roller Hockey International (RHI), which had been founded in 1993. It started with fourteen teams and, through a series of expansions, contractions, and relocations, the league is now composed of 15 active franchises.

MLRH draws many players with former college and pro ice hockey experience, as well as "pure" inline hockey players. Although Americans have historically constituted the majority of the players in MLRH, the league also attracts Canadian and European trained players to the league.

History

Total MLRH World championships
Defunct teams are italicized.

Team	Titles
Marple Gladiators	2
Anaheim Bullfrogs	1
Boston Storm	1
Buffalo Wings	1
Colorado Crush	1
Detroit Revolution	1
Dynamo Pardubice	1
IHC Tunechoddy	1
New York/New Jersey Rockers	1
Rocky Mountain Wolverines	1
Williamsburg Warriors	1
Further information: MLRH World Championship

After the suspension of Roller Hockey International (RHI) for the 1998, Major League Roller Hockey was founded in 1998 in Alexandria, Virginia by entrepreneur Bill Raue. The inaugural season featured two franchises from the suspended RHI (the Anaheim Bullfrogs and Buffalo Wings) and 18 new franchises, with 11 in the United States, one in Canada and six in the United Kingdom. The first games were played during the summer of 1998. Hugo Belanger of the Virginia Vultures, former Roller Hockey International Leading Scorer, finished the inaugural season leading the league in goals (79), assists (79) and points (158). The Anaheim Bullfrogs defeated the Orlando Surge to win the first Jason Cup title in front of 10,000 fans at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.

While MLRH operated successfully in its inaugural season, the league went on hiatus for the 1999 season. Roller Hockey International returned in 1999 for one last season before folding for good. MLRH however fell victim to the demise of RHI and was brought down as professional roller hockey flamed out in 1999. According to Bill Raue, "There were so many bad feelings when RHI folded with $40 million in losses that it was virtually impossible to play at the professional level."

Returning in 2000, MLRH operated throughout the Midwest and Eastern seaboard playing with primarily amateur players. Starting in 2005, MLRH expanded to a Super League with the American champion facing the European champion in a world championship. In 2009, MLRH moved to a pro tour style league before returning to a traditional home-and-home style league in 2010.

Game

Main article: Inline hockey

Each Major League Roller Hockey regulation game is played between two teams and is 48 minutes long. The game is composed of four 12-minute quarters with an intermission of either one minute between first and second, and third and fourth quarters, and a halftime of five minutes between the second and third quarters. At the end of the 48-minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, a shootout ensues. Five players for each team in turn take a penalty shot. The team with the most goals during the five-round shootout wins the game. If the game is still tied after the five shootout rounds, the shootout becomes sudden death. Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a goal in the game score and thus awarded two points in the standings. The losing team in overtime or shootout is awarded only one. Shootout goals and saves are not tracked in hockey statistics; shootout statistics are tracked separately.

Shootouts do not occur during the playoffs. In the playoffs, sudden-death 12-minute four-on-four periods are played until one team scores.

Inline hockey rink

Major League Roller Hockey games are played on a rectangular inline hockey rink with rounded corners surrounded by walls and plexiglass. MLRH standards call for a rink measuring 85 feet by 200 feet. The center line divides the floor in half, and is used to judge illegal clearing violations. Near the end of both ends of the rink, there is a thin red goal line spanning the width of the floor, which is used to judge goals and illegal clearing calls.

Rules

While Major League Roller Hockey follows the general rules of inline hockey, it differs slightly from those used in National Hockey League games. Infractions of the rules can lead to either the stoppage of play in the case of offside and illegal clearing calls, or a penalty call for more serious infractions.

The league has different rules regarding being offside. First, the league only has an "offside pass" rule, which requires a stoppage in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the offensive side of the center line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player. Furthermore, the league also does not have an a standard "offside" rule resulting from skate position.

Another rule difference between MLRH and the NHL rules concerns how illegal clearings are called. In MLRH, a linesman stops play due to illegal clearing the moment the puck crosses the goal line, in contrast to the NHL rules where play is stopped if a defending play (other than the goaltender) touches the puck before an attacking player is able to. It is similar in that, when a team is guilty of illegally clearing the puck they are not allowed to make a line change before the following faceoff.

MLRH and the NHL differ also in penalty rules. In MLRH, a minor penalties called have a duration of one and one half minutes, while in the NHL, they have a duration of two minutes. Double minor penalties in MLRH have a duration of three minutes, as opposed to four minutes in the NHL. Major penalites in MLRH have a duration of four minutes, as opposed to five minutes in the NHL. Players who receive a second fighting major in MLRH games are ejected from the game, in contrast to the NHL rule. Usually a penalized team cannot replace a player that is penalized on the floor and is thus shorthanded for the duration of the penalty, but if the penalties are coincidental, for example when two players fight, both teams remain at full strength. Also, unlike minor penalties, major penalties must be served to their full completion, regardless of number of goals scored during the power play.

Teams

Major League Roller Hockey originated in 2008 with fourteen American teams, and through a sequence of team expansions, reductions, and relocations, MLRH currently consists of 15 teams, all of which are based in the United States. The Marple Gladiators are the most successful franchise with two World Championships. The most successful active franchises are the Buffalo Wings and Mission Axiom, each with one World Championship. The longest streak of winning the World Championship in consecutive years is two, held by the Marple Gladiators from 2002–03 to 2003–04.

The current league organization divides the teams into four divisions: the Atlantic Division, Midwest Division, Southwest Division, and Pacific Division.

List of teams

Season structure

See also: List of MLRH seasons and Season structure of MLRH

Major League Roller Hockey season is divided into an exhibition season (October), a regular season (from the first week in November through early to mid March) and a postseason (the MLRH playoffs). During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. The MLRH playoffs, which goes from March to the end of May, is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a single elimination game in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the MLRH World Champion.

In the regular season, each team plays 14 games; 7 games at home and 7 on the road. Points are awarded for each game, where two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation.

Points are awarded for each game, where two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation. Among major professional sports leagues, the NHL is the only one to award a team points for losing in overtime.

At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion. The three division champions along with the five other teams in the league with the next highest number of points, for a total of 8 teams, qualify for the playoffs. The division winners are seeded one through three (even if a non-division winner has a higher point total), and the next five teams with the best records in the conference are seeded four through eight. The MLRH playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a single elimination game in order to advance to the next round. The first round of the playoffs, or quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth. In the second round, or semifinals, MLRH re-seeds the teams, with the top remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining teams pairing off. In the third round, MLRH Finals, the two remaining teams play each other for the world championship.

In each round the higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-floor advantage. The game is played at this team's home venue. In the MLRH Finals, the game is played at a neutral-site regardless of where each team ranks.

Notable active players

The top five point scorers in the 2010–11 season were Juaquin Chavira (58), KC Groon (39), Chris Connole (33), Chris Fraterrigo (25), and Josh Larrichia (24). The top goaltenders (by goals against average) were Mike Urbano (2.12), Troy Redman (2.29), Troy Strong (2.48), Lucas Pagliassotti (3.33), and Nevin Iwamatsu (3.49).

See also

• List of American and Canadian cities by number of major professional sports franchises
• List of defunct MLRH teams
• List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada
• List of TV markets and major sports teams
• Major League Roller Hockey 2
• Major League Roller Hockey AA
• MLRH AAA season

References

External links

• Official website