Section B·Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, February 5, 1999
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Sport of the Week
Roller hockey club creates excitement, shoots for more
By Matt Tait
Kansan sportswriter
Let's get one thing straight, no checking means more offense, more offense means more excitement and higher-scoring excitement results in your typical roller hockey game.
The KU Roller Hockey Club is in its sixth year and 1999 squad finally has produced what club members have envisioned all along, a winning record.
The club was founded when the ice hockey club at the University was dropped. While the basics of ice hockey transfer to the roller arena, there are several differences in both rules and styles that make roller hockey more exciting for some club members.
Sean Cosgrove, club president and Chicago junior, said games were usually high-scoring and exciting.
"You rarely get ties. 7-6 is your typical roller hockey score, and with the wider rink and less players, the offense has a lot more of an advantage." Cosgrove said.
As far as similarities and differences to its father sport, ice hockey, roller hockey has undergone a facelift that makes it a different game.
There are five members on the rink at once; two defensemen, two forwards, and a goalie. In ice hockey there is an additional forward, making the total number of players six.
The roller hockey rink is wider than an ice hockey rink, and instead of three twenty-minute periods, roller hockey games
KU Roller Hockey club member Adam Snetzer circles in the corner with the puck looking to pass. The KU Roller Hockey Club is enjoying its first winning season and plans to make a trip to the national tournament in Chicago, Contributed art
consist of two, 23-minute halves.
Almost all of the rules and penalties from ice hockey apply to roller hockey, such as high sticking, interference, and charging, but icing and offsides do not exist in the roller hockey leagues.
"With no offsides you've got to watch where you
are on the ice. Sometimes an opponent will be down by your net," Cosgrove said. Cosgrove said that straight
Cosgrove said that straight out hitting was not allowed in
roller hockey but that some players disregarded the no hitting rule in an attempt to intimidate their opponents.
"Ihft people and take my two minute penalty," said Michael Rappaport, Minneapolis sophomore.
The open nature of the club allows players to use this tactic. Cosgrove said the club was entirely team run. There is no coach, and if someone sees something in practice they want to work on, they speak up, he said.
The open nature of the club allows players to use this tactic.
Club vice-president and league scoring leader, Adam Snetzer, Dallas sophomore, said that once he and Cosgrove became the team's leaders, the club had run much smoother.
There are 22 members in the club, and similar to most clubs at Kansas, it is partially funded by the University, but generates most of its revenue through fund raising such as T-shirt,
hat, jacket and Jersey sales.
“It's disappointing because we can't go to all of the places we're invited to because of travel expenses, but we get to go to a couple a year.” Snetzer said.
Although the club members have to be selective about which tournaments they attend, they made the trip to Las Vegas for the Black Biscuit Invitational Tournament in October where they placed fourth.
The team competes in the Great Plains Hockey League which consists of 12 teams from Kansas and Missouri. The top six teams in the conference advance to the regional tournament in St. Louis. The top five teams from St. Louis go on to the national tournament in Chicago, a trip the club is planning to make.
"Our offense is a lot better this year, and our defense has put a lot of heart into it." Snetzer said.
The club's record is now 12-6, with four games remaining. The club's games are scheduled once every two to three weekends. Home games are played at Sport 2 Sport, 5200 Clinton Pkwy.
For several die hard ice hockey fans the KU Roller Hockey Club has provided a great replacement for the game they grew up loving.
"It's a game I love playing. When it's game time, I'm just as much a competitor as anybody, and I want to win, but it still remains fun and is a great way to blow off some steam," Cosgrove said.
Snetzer agreed wholeheartedly.
"I would never give it up for ice hockey, ever."
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