About Us
Mission
Our Mission is to provide the local community with a family-friendly Ice and Inline Hockey league that will exceed the participant’s expectations. The league will be a place where all talent levels can have fun and be competitive in the great sport of Hockey.
Vision
The vision is to become the leader in the development and growth of the dynamic sport of Ice and Inline Hockey in South West and to enjoy the game at its best, while also teaching the necessary team building skills both on and off the rink.
THE HISTORY OF ICE HOCKEY
The origins of ice hockey have long been debated. In 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) officially declared that the first game of organised ice hockey was played in Montreal in 1875. Many also consider ice hockey’s first rules to have been published by the Montreal Gazette in 1877. However, research reveals that organised ice hockey/bandy games were first played on skates in England and that the earliest rules were also published in England. Canada made important contributions to the game from the 1870s on. By the early 20th century, “Canadian rules” had reshaped the sport.
THE HISTORY OF INLINE HOCKEY
Scott and Brennan Olson, brothers from Minneapolis, are often credited with reviving roller hockey in the U.S. After discovering a primitive pair of 1960s vintage roller skates with wheels in a straight line rather than the two-by-two quad design, they saw the opportunity for off-season practice. Their efforts eventually resulted in “Rollerblade” inline skates in 1984. The Olson brothers’ Rollerblade skates had high-wear polyurethane skate wheels and top-of-the-line ball bearings which dramatically improved the skates’ performance over the slower and more difficult-to-manoeuvre quad skate. Rollerblade skates were smooth, clean turning, and, most importantly, fast. By the late 1980s, inline skating had taken off, though initially as a form of exercise.
Fortunately for brothers Olson, at that same time, an ice hockey pro in Edmonton, Ontario by the name of Wayne Gretzky was at the peak of his greatness, dominating the sport, compiling legendary stats, and garnering large television audiences. When the L.A. Kings acquired Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers, southern California had a new hero who inspired kids to pick up street hockey. Soon enough, the streets of sunny SoCal were humming with Rollerbladers right alongside the ubiquitous skateboarders.
This phenomenon was not lost on the NHL. Soon other warm-weather markets—San Jose, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, and Dallas—were sporting professional ice hockey teams. The league expansion of pro-level franchises into warm-weather markets, combined with the rising popularity of inline skating, turned out to be a fortuitous mix for roller hockey. By the mid-1990s, roller hockey had again taken off in America with many leagues and national competitions.
The world is full of sports that are immensely popular but almost unknown in North America. It took decades for American soccer to organize to a point where the U.S. could field a team that was internationally competitive. Roller hockey, while popular internationally, has had an up-and-down history in the U.S., though its popularity is growing. Given the significant exposure the NHL enjoys, and the general popularity of Rollerblading or inline skating, inline roller hockey is sure to continue to grow as any fast-paced and exciting sport should.
