Street Hockey - Gameplay

Gameplay

Street hockey is based on ice hockey, and the overall purpose is the same: on the playing surface a goalie, 2 defencemen, and 3 forwards and score more goals than your opponent by shooting the ball or puck into the opposing team's net using your stick. It is played on foot,(semakers) or with skates it is called ( Roller Hockey) usually on some outdoor asphalt, cement or moddular sport surface, and usually with some kind of ball, ( Orange " No Bouce" ball) made for street hockey and before 1970a beat up tennis ball which has lost its bounce. Pucks are rarely used due to the playing surface but in some instances a special puck designed with bearings designed for roller hockey can also be used. If a puck is used, generally the players agree for safety purposes to make every effort to keep the puck on the ground since the players generally don't wear protective head gear and if a puck were to strike a player in the head it could cause serious medical injury and damage. Generally, street hockey is played with little to no protective equipment, therefore intense physical contact is usually prohibited, and levels of physical contact are agreed upon before hand by the participants. The game does permit a level of physical contact similar to that allowed in basketball. Rules and playing styles can differ from area to area depending upon the traditions a certain group has set aside. In informal play, the game can often begin with a so called "NHL face-off", in which the two opposing centers hit their sticks against each other three times saying "N", "H", "L". Immediately following the "L" the two players fight to see who claims possession of the ball or puck. When street hockey is played in rinks, whether outdoor or indoor, it is often called "dek hockey" or "ball hockey" in the U.S. and Canada. Generally speaking, dek and ball hockey are played under more organized rules if they are not already being played as part of an organized league which has an official set of rules (see the section Leagues and governing bodies below).

The game can also be played on indoor basketball courts and/or gymnasiums. This type of game is called floor hockey and in organized leagues often has specific rules in place that differ slightly from outdoor street hockey. The walls or fencing of these "rinks" serve to keep the ball (or the less often used puck) in play similarly to the boards of an ice rink. Floor hockey also has its own variations called Cosom Hockey and Floorball.

In Toronto Canada, it is currently illegal to play street hockey on roads or in laneways. Fines are up to $55 but the law is rarely enforced. As of 2011 some city councilors are looking to change the by-laws. A popular alternative to playing hockey on the street in Canada is to play in outdoor lacrosse boxes. The lacrosse boxes contain the same asphalt surface as the streets, but offers a more realistic feeling of hockey since the playing area is larger than the average street, in addition to having boards that surround the lacrosse box. The only downside to this is the smaller size of in-place lacrosse nets.

Similarly to lacrosse boxes, outdoor roller hockey rinks are becoming quite popular in public areas around the United States which allow for a place to play off of the sometimes dangerous streets. Outdoor roller hockey rinks are usually covered in a sport interlocking plastic tile surface so equipment does not wear down as quickly as on asphalt. Many are also covered to allow play during wet weather, and lighted for nighttime hockey. There are also a large amount of indoor rinks sprinkled throughout the United States and Canada. No official tally has been made as to the number of indoor rinks but the unofficial count is over 500.