September 13, 2000
Hockey players roll to victory
TC residents win gold medals in roller hockey champion
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Whether you're on blades or wheels, any way you slice it it's still hockey.
For hockey devotees Justin White and Corey Couturier, give them a stick, puck and rink and they are in their element, any time, any season.
This summer when ice hockey leagues were dormant, the friends played on a roller hockey team based in Detroit, Team Hyper. In July, the two returned to town sporting two gold medals, garnered for their play with their team in the Under 14 division at the 2000 North American Roller Hockey Championships in Brampton, Ontario.
While roller hockey is relatively unknown in Traverse City, the sport is catching on all over the country. Playing four-on-four with modified rules, the fast-paced games draw players of all ages and devoted audiences.
At the championships, Team Hyper faced an uphill battle. White and Couturier had played with the team in just four qualifying tournaments this summer. In addition, the team fielded just six players instead of the eight allowed, but this short bench did not dampen their winning spirit. They swept through the preliminary rounds and streaked through quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games.
Playing against the best of the best in their age group, the team won, thanks in part to Couturier's division-high scoring of 12 goals and five assists. This made him national high-scoring champ for his age.
"There were teams from California and all over the United States playing," said White, who plays center in both ice and roller hockey. "It was challenging."
Both in the tenth-grade, White at Traverse City West High School and Couturier at Central, the two friends have been playing roller hockey for two years and ice hockey for nearly 10. Both qualified for traveling leagues in ice hockey since they were nine. While they do play soccer and tennis in the off season to stay in shape, since they started playing roller hockey, they can play hockey year round.
And roller hockey has captured their imagination. Roller hockey is a revved up version of an already fast-paced game, where stopping is an iffy proposition. Players know that fast stops can flip them on their heads, something they do not worry about with sharp ice hockey blades.
"Watching roller hockey, it seems like they are flying," said Leslie Couturier. "When I watch ice hockey it seems so slow."
Roller hockey is more of an offense-oriented game, boasting higher scores than ice hockey. The rink is the same size as hockey but the game goes for two 12-minute periods, with the clock stopped as needed.
The different speed and orientation of the game require different strategies.
"In ice hockey it's like dump and chase but in roller hockey it is all possession," said Couturier, who plays right wing in both venues. "Keeping the puck is what really matters."
While checking and hitting are forbidden in roller hockey, sometimes the speed and inability to stop makes for a rough game. The sport has less upper body padding than ice hockey, no shoulder pads at all, but more leg coverage, including long pants for protection from falls.
"It does get pretty rough out there," said White, who will play for West High School this spring and spent time this summer playing with the Michigan 15 Select team.
"They have been really good to us, giving us the equipment we need," said Couturier, who plays for the Traverse City North Stars Hockey Club during the ice hockey season. "Our parents help a lot."
Without the support of their parents, their days in roller hockey would be numbered. Playing for a team based four hours away and traveling to tournaments around the Midwest would be a strain on most families. But the Whites and Couturiers have worked it out so their sons can pursue their goals. They take turns driving the boys to and from practices and games, often leaving them with a teammate's family in Detroit.
"A lot of the time we drop them off, the families on the team have been so good," Leslie Couturier noted.