Roller Hockey International - Rules

Rules

The rules in the RHI were similar to but not identical to those of the National Hockey League. The RHI had four players and a goalie at a time on the playing surface opposed to the NHL's five and a goalie. Minor penalties were only a minute and a half as opposed to two minutes and major penalties were four minutes instead of five. There were no blue lines therefore no two line passes however there was still illegal clearing and a different version of off-sides. A player could skate over the red line before the puck however the player couldn't receive a pass over the line. The puck itself was lighter, at 31⁄₂ oz. and made of red plastic as opposed to a 51⁄₂ oz. black rubber ice hockey puck . There were four 12 minute quarters opposed to the NHL's three 20 minute periods. A tie score at the end of regulation time in the regular season would go straight to a shootout instead of a five minute overtime. The playoffs followed a best of three series format however the third game was not a full 48 minute game. Instead it was just a regular 12 minute quarter called "the mini game". If the teams were tied at the end of the quarter a sudden death period would follow. Also the average number of goals scored per game was 16.7 compared to the NHL's 7.