NHL Pleased With Tournament’s Success

The In-Line World Hockey Championships in Anaheim are an “investment in the future,” said Ken Yaffe, NHL director of fan development.

“We want to nurture this event, to see it prosper and, naturally, be a part of its growth,” he said.

The NHL entered into an agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation to stage the 12-team in-line tournament at an estimated cost of $3 million--a nice way for the NHL to get its feet wet in in-line skating.

The league already has passed twice on buying the troubled Roller Hockey International in the last year and has no plans to start an in-line league of its own, Yaffe said.

There is a sense this week, judging by the smiles on the faces of NHL and IIHF officials, that the championships have gone better than expected.

NHL workers point to the announced crowd of 1,050 mostly flag-waving American fans that packed the main arena at Disney Ice for Sunday’s United States-Canada game. More than 200 fans paid to stand along the glass--five deep in spots--to watch the game.

Total tickets sold each of the other four preliminary days averaged about 500, which Yaffe called acceptable.

“Of course we’d like to pack the house every day,” he said. “We had a modest advertising campaign. Our daily average would be three times that if we promoted this event more.”

Officials at the Pond said only 1,600 tickets were sold as of last weekend for Thursday’s semifinals and Friday’s finals. NHL sources expect that number to increase dramatically and said they would be pleased with a crowd in excess of 5,000.

If that’s the case, the involvement of the NHL is also expected to increase in future years. Yaffe said plans call for admitting four more teams to the field next season, which would mean lengthening the event a day or two.

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While many officials would like to see the world championships return to Anaheim next year, Yaffe said Europe is a more likely bet.

“There is pressure to go international next year,” he said. “But we want to see this event grow and if that means coming back to Southern California one more time next year, we will give it high consideration.”

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The absence of body checking, banned at international in-line events, appears to bring out the best in the skaters. When a puck-handler knows he’s not going to get decked while rolling down the court at full speed, he is more likely to attempt a number of moves.

Skaters treated fans to dazzling stick-handling and puck-handling during the first five days of the tournament. Yaffe said the sport’s governing body, the IIHF and the NHL, are studying whether checking should be allowed next year.

“This is a terrific way to see a game because it allows you to see the skills and quickness of the players,” he said. “But at the same time, we realize the physical nature of the game and we are open to the idea of adding checking.”

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The Pond’s playing surface will turn green beginning with Thursday’s semifinal medal rounds.

SportCourt, the Utah-based company that manufacturers the plastic tile skating surface for most of the world’s major in-line arenas, has developed a green floor that will be installed for the final two days of the tournament. The current surface at the Pond is blue and includes the Bullfrogs’ logo.

The green surface is designed to have less give and have better interlocking tiles for fewer dead spots, according to Dan Wollman, vice president at SportCourt. The color was chosen after several television tests revealed the international orange puck shows up better on green than the red RHI puck does on the blue surface.

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Today’s Games

Schedule of medal-round games in the World In-Line Hockey Championships at Disney Ice:

Relegation pool

* Austria vs. Japan, noon

* Australia vs. the Netherlands, 3 p.m.

Quarterfinals

* Switzerland vs. Czech Republic, 4:30 p.m.

* Finland vs. Russia, 7:30 p.m.