Report from the One Goal Hockey Show and the Toronto Floorball League.
Report from the One Goal Hockey Show and the Toronto Floorball League.
The One Goal Hockey Show and Floorball Pro
The show was interesting this year, overall traffic was lower than normal, but the excitement for Floorball was tremendous.
Out of all the Floorball Brands, Salming Sports is still the
only company exhibiting Floorball Equipment at the largest hockey
industry show on the planet and was the first ever to do so last year
in Boston. Interestingly enough, companies like Exel Floorball were
in attendance but did not display any product. Noticeable, was
the amount of Hockey brand executives stopping by to see what the
Floorball buzz was all about, namely Nike/Bauer, Easton, Rbk/CCM, and
Warrior. Floorball, often thought to be a European-only
phenomenon, is now starting to establish a presence in the North
American hockey business landscape signalling growth times ahead for
Floorball.
In addition to retailers wondering how to engage their
customers in Floorball, there were numerous Hockey specific training
facilities enquiring and signing up to have Floorball utilized as an
off-ice training system for budding hockey players. More coverage on
these facilities to follow in the coming weeks…
One of the highlights of the show was watching Canadian
“Airhoooker” Balraj Jutla perform for the attendees. They were
amazed at the skills and often commented that they have seen Hockey
superstars like Crosby and Ovechkin practice similar moves with a puck.
In addition the show, I was able to partake in some Floorball
League play at West Toronto Collegiate. I was slotted on to the
Snipers Team, and we were up against Salming’s pro player Rikard
Jonsson and the GWB team. We jumped ahead with a 3-1 lead after I
converted an easy tip-in from a sweet pass by Andrew Ludzeneks.
Unfortunately, my defense was weak and GWB came back to tie us and then
win in a shootout. Johanna Kytola with GWB was the first star
withe three points, must’ve been that new Salming stick she was using 
Overall, it was a blast. Competitive “recreational” Floorball
is a lot of fun. The rules call for many stoppages in play, but
learning the Freeball game within the game was interesting for me.
technorati tags:OneGoalHockeyShow, TFL, Floorball
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