What is RHL - Roller or Inline Hockey?

 
 

How many NHL players actually credit rollerblading / roller hockey?

There isn’t one official, centralized count (no league registry tracks “inline background”), but across interviews, features, and player-development stories, it’s clearly a meaningful slice of NHL talent—especially North American players who grew up fighting for ice time, then used inline/roller as the closest substitute.

A few high-signal, well-documented examples:

  • Connor McDavid has explicitly credited rollerblading as a key skills-builder—especially for turning and carrying speed through edges (because “you can’t stop” the same way on blades). (GQ)

  • Auston Matthews has spoken publicly about blading and has used inline training skates as part of his off-ice work (to the point of becoming an investor in an inline-skate company). (NHL)

  • Connor Bedard has spent summers playing in an inline league in B.C. (including documented coverage around him playing with other high-end prospects/NHLers). (Pittsburgh Hockey Insider)

  • Patrick Maroon grew up using roller rinks / off-ice skill work to sharpen his playmaking and hands. (Wikipedia)

  • Ethen Frank is an example of a non-traditional development path that included roller hockey in a region with limited ice infrastructure. (The Washington Post)

That’s the pattern: when ice is expensive, limited, or overscheduled, roller becomes the “always available” reps—and those reps compound.

Why roller hockey is such a powerful supplement for ice hockey

This is the long-form “why,” in the voice of Roller Hockey London—because it’s not just similar to ice hockey. It’s a skill accelerator.

1) The rules create more creativity, more touches, more decisions

Most roller formats strip away the stop-start constraints:

  • No blue lines, no offsides, no icing in many common rule codes → the game becomes continuous, attack-minded, and possession-driven. (Wikipedia)

  • 4-on-4 (lots of leagues) → more space, more puck touches, more 1v1 and 2v2 reads, and way more “make a play” moments. (Canadian Rollerhockey Group)

On ice, you can hide inside systems. In roller, the floor exposes you—in a good way. If you can’t handle the puck under pressure, you feel it immediately. If you can’t support properly, the play blows past you. Players are forced to develop the modern skill set: small-area deception, scanning, give-and-go timing, and creative problem-solving.

2) It’s safer by design—without losing intensity

Roller is fast and competitive, but typically without body checking (especially in common youth/adult recreational structures). That matters for summer development:

  • Inline/roller hockey is widely described as a contact sport where body checking is prohibited. (Wikipedia)

Less collision risk + more space (4-on-4) means players can actually push pace, try new things, and play freer—without the constant fear of getting stapled in the corner.

3) The “sticky floor” forces better mechanics and better hands

This is where roller quietly creates monsters:

  • On a sport court, you don’t get the same glide forgiveness. The surface can feel “grabbier,” and transitions punish sloppy posture.

  • You can’t rely on a hockey stop the same way—so you learn to manage speed through turns, weight shifts, and edge control.

McDavid literally described this exact benefit: rollerblading helped him learn to slow down and maintain speed while turning. (GQ)

Then add the puck: hard, light, and lively. Your hand-eye has to sharpen because the puck doesn’t behave like it does on ice. Clean receptions, quick pulls, and soft hands become non-negotiable.

4) It’s the best summer alternative to “ice, ice, ice”

We’re honest about the trap in youth hockey culture: people think more ice automatically equals better development. But year-round sameness can create:

  • overuse patterns,

  • mental burnout,

  • stale creativity.

Even mainstream health and coaching guidance increasingly pushes the idea that variety and multi-sport movement builds more durable athletes—physically and mentally. (Geisinger)

Roller hockey is the rare “different sport” that still speaks hockey’s language. It gives players a new environment and stimulus while reinforcing core hockey skills.

5) The environment matters: loud jerseys, music, and pure fun

This part isn’t fluff. It’s development.

Roller hockey is built to feel like a summer game should feel:

  • loud jerseys

  • music

  • flow

  • high scoring

  • everyone involved

That vibe keeps kids (and adults) coming back. And reps are everything. The best development plan is the one players actually do consistently.

6) It’s more accessible—financially and logistically

Ice time is expensive, crowded, and schedule-heavy. Roller changes the math:

  • cheaper facility costs,

  • simpler operations,

  • more flexible programming,

  • easier entry point for brand-new players (and late starters).

And that matters in a city: accessibility creates a bigger pipeline, and a bigger pipeline creates better hockey.

The Roller Hockey London story (long-form)

Roller Hockey London exists because we’re tired of the false choice people feel forced into:

Either you’re “serious” and live on the ice year-round… or you’re “casual” and fall behind.

We reject that.

We believe roller hockey is one of the most serious development tools in the sport—because it builds the exact skills modern hockey rewards:

  • deception,

  • vision,

  • puck protection,

  • pace through turns,

  • constant decision-making,

  • and confidence with the puck on your stick.

And we believe summer should be a season where players fall in love with hockey again—where they play because it’s fun, because it’s fast, because the rink is alive, because their jersey pops, because music is bumping, because the game flows, and because they get more touches in one night than they might get in a week of structured systems hockey.

That’s what the best players keep hinting at when they talk about rollerblading or inline: it’s not just training. It’s freedom with consequences—you’re free to create, but the game instantly tells you if your skills and decisions hold up.

So we built Roller Hockey London to be:

  • a development engine for ice hockey players in the summer,

  • a safer, high-rep environment,

  • and the most accessible “on-ramp” for families who are brand new to the game—kids, teens, adults, and everyone in between.

If you want better hockey players, you don’t just need more drills.
You need more play.
More touches.
More flow.
More joy.

And a format that forces skill, not just structure.

That’s roller hockey done right.
That’s what we’re building.

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