American Inline Hockey League

American Inline Hockey League (AIHL)

Current season or competition: 2012 Champions Cup playoffs
The AIHL Logo
Sport	Inline hockey
Founded	June 16, 2008, Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Commissioner	Anthony Flynn
Inaugural season	2008–09
No. of teams	33
Country(ies)	Canada (1 team)  United States (32 teams)
Continent	North America
Most recent champion(s)	Oakland Goodlife (2nd title)
Most titles	Oakland Goodlife (2)
Official website	AIHLhockey.com

The American Inline Hockey League (AIHL) is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates an elite and a minor inline hockey league of 33 franchised member clubs, of which one is currently located in Canada and 32 in the United States. Headquartered in Menomonie, Wisconsin, the AIHL is widely considered to be one of the premier inline hockey leagues in the United States. The Champions Cup is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The league was organized on June 16, 2008 in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States with 21 franchises from a predecessor organization the Professional Inline Hockey Association (PIHA), founded in 2002. It started with 31 teams and through a series of expansions, contractions, and relocations, the league is now composed of 33 active franchises. The AIHL draws many highly skilled players, all most all from the United States.

History

A series of disputes in the Professional Inline Hockey Association (PIHA) between disgruntled team owners and league management led to a meeting about the future of the sport. Realizing the owners limited voice in the PIHA, nineteen teams, representing the Boston Swamp Rats, East Bay Jawz, El Paso Black Diamonds, Hartford Fire Ants, Long Island 495ers, Maryland Crusaders (formerly known as the Maryland Knights, later renamed back to the Maryland Knights in 2009), New Jersey Nightmare (formerly known as the Philadelphia Revolution), New Jersey Surge (formerly known as the New Jersey Stampede), Northern California Mustangs, Philadelphia Growl, Phoenix Dragons, Raleigh Dragons (formerly known as the Raleigh Assault), Richmond Robins, San Jose Pirates, Scottdale Inferno, Southampton Cyclones (formerly known as the Feasterville Fury), Steel City Phantoms (formerly known as the Pittsburgh Bandits, later renamed back to the Pittsburgh Bandits in 2009), Tucson Desparados (later renamed to the Tucson Slayers in 2008) and Virginia Generals (formerly known as the Winchester Generals, later renamed back to the Winchester Generals in 2009), voted to defect from the league, and on June 16, 2008, formed the American Inline Hockey League. The Philadelphia Growl organization would fold a few weeks later to be replaced by the expansion Philadelphia Brawlers. 12 organizations would join the league as expansion franchises to bring the total to 31 teams. The Garden State Savage Wolves, Georgia Syndicate, Massachusetts Mulissha, Northern California Riot, Oakland GoodLife and Suffolk Sharks all joined from existing PIHA locations, and six teams joining from new areas; the Corona Jr. Ducks, Huntington Beach Elite, Irvine Anarchy and Pama Cyclones from Southern California, and the Las Vegas Aces from Nevada. With the first games being played four months later on October 25, the AIHL's inaugural season was generally considered a successful one.

The Steel City Phantoms won the first Champions Cup, defeating the San Jose Pirates three games to one in the final. Later that summer, the AIHL had its first series of expansion and contraction. The Beantown Braves, Cajun Voo Doo, Houston Sabre Cats, Mile High Mayhem, Ripon Savage, Rocky Mountain Talons and Texas Terror all joined as expansion franchises. The New Jersey Grizzlies and Potomac Mavericks both joined the league from the Professional Inline Hockey Association, although New Jersey would compete in both the AIHL as well as the PIHA. The Oakland GoodLife and Raleigh Dragons both folded after only one season in the league.

In another big step for the league, the final three rounds of the 2010 Champions Cup playoffs were played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the Milk House. Also, the 2010 Champions Cup Final was shown live on ESPN3 on May 30, which saw the Huntington Beach Elite defeat the Long Island 495ers 5–2 to capture their first Champions Cup.

Game

Each American Inline Hockey League regulation game is played between two teams and is 30 minutes long. The game is composed of two 15-minute periods with an intermission of one minute. At the end of the 30-minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues. During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, three-player on three-player sudden death period, in which the first team to score a goal wins the game. Until the 2009-10 season, if the game was tied after regulation, the game ended in a tie.

Beginning in the 2009–10 season, if the game is tied at the end of overtime, the game enters a shootout. Three players for each team in turn take a penalty shot. The team with the most goals during the three-round shootout wins the game. If the game is still tied after the three shootout rounds, the shootout continues but becomes sudden death. Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a goal in the game score and thus awarded two points in the standings. The losing team in overtime or shootout is awarded only one. Shootout goals and saves are not tracked in hockey statistics.

Shootouts do not occur during the playoffs. In the playoffs, sudden-death 15-minute four-on-four periods are played until one team scores.

Inline hockey rink

American Inline Hockey League games are played on a rectangular inline hockey rink with rounded corners surrounded by walls and plexiglass. The official size measures 85 by 200 feet (25.91 by 60.92 meters) in the AIHL, but may vary in width from 65 to 100 feet and vary in length from 130 to 200 feet. The center line divides the floor in half, which divides the floor into two attacking zones. Near the end of both ends of the rink, there is a thin red goal line spanning the width of the floor, which is used to judge goals.

Rules

Main articles: American Inline Hockey League rules

While the American Inline Hockey League follows the general rules of inline hockey, it differs slightly from those used in international games organized by the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) such as the World Championships. Infractions of the rules can lead to either the stoppage of play or a penalty call for more serious infractions.

Like most inline hockey competitions, there are no offside or icing infractions.

Teams

The American Inline Hockey League originated in 2008 with 31 American teams. Through a sequence of team expansions, reductions, and relocations the AIHL currently consists of 33 teams, 32 of which are based in the United States and one in Canada. Three teams have won the Champions Cup on one occasion each. The 2011 edition of the Oakland Goodlife were the most successful team in the league's history, losing only twice through the regular season and playoffs, with a combined record of 32–2–0 en route to the franchise's first championship.

The current league organization divides the teams into two conferences: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. The Eastern Conference has four divisions, and the Western Conference has three. Each division has either four or five teams. The current organization has roots in the 2011–12 season when a league realignment removed one division to bring the total number of divisions to seven.

Nineteen of the AIHL's thirty-three teams are located in the Eastern Time Zone, making up the Eastern Conference. While most teams are in divisions with other teams in close proximity, teams in the Great Lakes and Southwest Divisions are more widely spread out. This results in significantly more travel time for those teams.

List of teams

Season structure

The American Inline Hockey League season is divided into a regular season (from the mid November to mid April) and a postseason (the Champions Cup playoffs). During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. The Champions Cup playoffs, which go from April to the end of May, is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-three series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Champions Cup champion.

In the regular season, each team plays a 24–game schedule; either at home, on the road or at a neutral festival site. Scheduling formats are set by the individual divisions.

The AIHL's regular season standings are based on a point system instead of winning percentages. Points are awarded for each game, where two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the regular season division winner. The league's overall leader is awarded the Best Overall Record.

The division winner along with the two or three other teams in each division with the next highest number of points, for a total of three or four teams in each conference, qualify for the playoffs. The division winner are seeded one, and the next two or three teams with the best records in the division are seeded two through four. The Champions Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament, where the teams are grouped in pairs to play best-of-three series, the winners moving on to the next round. The first round of the playoffs, or division semifinals, consists of the first seed playing the fourth seed, and the second playing the third. In the second round, or division finals, the two winners in each division playing against each other, with the winner being declared the division champion. In the third round, or the conference semifinals, the AIHL re-seeds the division champions in each conference, with the top division champion against the lowest division champion, and the other two remaining conference teams pairing off. In the fourth round, the conference finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Champions Cup Finals.

In each round the higher-ranked team is awarded home-floor advantage. In the first two rounds, all games are played at this team's home venue. In the final three rounds, all games are played at a neutral site, with the team with the most points during the regular season is given home-floor advantage regardless of where each team ranks in their own division.

Trophies and awards

The American Inline Hockey League presents a number of trophies each year. The most prestigious team award is the Champions Cup, which is awarded to the league champion at the end of the Champions Cup playoffs. The team that has the most points in the regular season is awarded the Best Overall Record. There are also numerous trophies that are awarded to the players based on their statistics during the regular season; they include, among others, the League Top Scorer for the league scoring champion (goals and assists), and the Top Goal Scorer for the goal-scoring leader.

The other player trophies are selected by the league. These individual awards are presented at a formal ceremony held during championship weekend. The most prestigious individual award is the League Most Valuable Player which is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player; the voting is conducted by league officials to judge the player who is the most valuable to his team during the regular season. The Most Valuable Goaltender is awarded annually to the person deemed the best goalkeeper as voted on by the league officials. The Most Valuable Defenseman is awarded annually to the American Inline Hockey League's top defenseman, the Sportsmanship Award is awarded annually to the player deemed to combine the highest degree of skill and sportsmanship.

In addition to the regular season awards, the Playoff Most Valuable Player is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the AIHL's Champions Cup playoffs. Furthermore, the top coach in the league wins the Coach of the Year. The American Inline Hockey League publishes the names of the nominees from each division for all awards, and then names the award winner during the AIHL Awards Ceremony.

Notable active players

The top five point scorers in the 2011–12 season were Daniel Amimoto (141), Danny Marmorstein (137), John McGuiness (96), Kyle Rosendale (70), and Tim Mullis (70). The top goal scorers were Daniel Amimoto (73), John McGuiness (56), Danny Marmorstein (52), Kyle Rosendale (48), and Stephen Chaires (45). The top goaltenders (by wins) were Eric Hernandez (19), Brandon Corsatea (19), Mike Stoever (14), Pat Bell (12), and Craig Brodmerkel (11).

See also

• List of defunct AIHL teams
• List of AIHL records (individual)
• History of the American Inline Hockey League
• List of AIHL records (team)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: American Inline Hockey League

• Official website

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