Roller Hockey: the Secret is out….It's GREAT for your Ice game!

With so little practice time spent on individual skills and a lack of frozen ponds where the kids can go a play for hours on end, the local hockey player is left without much opportunity to improve their individual creativity on the ice.

One secret that is slowly emerging in North America to help you develop your puck skills and creativity is….ROLLER HOCKEY!

Play is 4-on-4 with no offsides, no icing, and no body checking. These factors give the player more room to dangle! More and more players are using roller hockey as a complement to their ice hockey game. Whether its playing in the Spring roller hockey league during the off-season or playing in the local house league during their ice season, these players are getting a jump on their competition.

Why are they gaining an advantage?

The rules and style of play for roller hockey are conducive to skill development and confidence with the puck. There are no blue or red lines to restrict player movement on the surface, thereby providing the player with much more open space. This gives the player more time to get open, more decision making time when stickhandling and more room to skate with the puck. Creativity and confidence are allowed to develop in a fun and entertaining forum.

The roller hockey game is a possession game, very similar to basketball. If you've got the puck - the other team can't score. In addition, if your team uses a controlled attack you can catch the opposition out of position and find yourself with an excellent scoring chance.

This style of play helps develop a player's stickhandling and passing skills while developing a player's confidence to make a smart play with the puck. Translated to ice hockey where the average player has the puck on his stick for split seconds before the opposition is on top of him, added confidence and improved stickhandling skills will make you a better player.

Has roller hockey helped anyone with their ice hockey? Check out this list of players that played significant roller hockey growing up and are reaching some of the highest levels in ice hockey: