Roller Hockey (also referred to as Inline Hockey) is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent’s goal to score points.

The sport is a very fast-paced and free-flowing game and body checking is prohibited. There are five players including the goalkeeper from each team on the rink at a time, while teams normally consist of 16 players.

Roller Hockey differs from rink hockey in several ways, including the number of players on the rink at a time, the types of sticks used, and the types of skates used. Rink Hockey teams field four players, and the players use shorter sticks and skate using quad (roller skating) type skates.

There are no blue lines or defensive zones in roller hockey, unlike ice hockey. This means that, according to most rule codes, there are no offsides or icings that can occur during game play. This allows for faster gameplay. There are traditionally two 20-minute periods or four 10-minute periods with a stopped clock.

Some independent tournament providers include Amateur Athletic Union, North American Roller Championships, State Wars and the Torhs 2 Hot 4 Ice tournament series.

Although roller hockey appears to simply be ice hockey on inline skates, this singular difference reflects throughout the rest of the game, resulting in important differences between the two sports.

Roller hockey is typically played at room temperature on a surface that is kept dry to protect the bearings in the skate wheels. Several surface materials are used, including plastic tiles (sometimes known as sport-court flooring), wood, and sealed concrete. The playing surface used allows wheels to grip. The puck is made of a much lighter plastic material than an ice hockey puck, and rests on small nylon or poly-plastic nubs to reduce friction with the rink surface, allowing it to slide freely.

Roller hockey leagues generally require players to wear full face masks, but otherwise, players tend to wear lighter clothes and less protective padding.

Important differences in game rules also exist. Each roller hockey team fields only four skaters and one goaltender (5 players) rather than ice hockey’s five skaters and one goaltender (six players).

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