2010-02-09_PR Comm Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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In the United States, perhaps 300 men, 50 women and 200 youngsters play bandy. All of them live in the Twin Cities, except for a handful from Duluth who drive down on weekends. Most of the national team players took up bandy after playing college hockey, often because the rules governing contact resemble those of soccer, shoulder-to-shoulder challenges only. Full-on body checking is prohibited. “After I graduated I played in men’s hockey leagues, and I always came home bleeding,” said Rick Haney, a former Harvard hockey player and a captain of the American bandy team. “Then I tried bandy, and as soon as I stepped out on the ice I knew I was home.” The appeal of bandy goes beyond safety considerations. The game requires more skating stamina than hockey because there is more ice to cover (7 to 11 miles per 90-minute game) and far fewer substitutions. It also requires the ability to maneuver at high speed. Jere Lehtinen, the longtime forward for the Dallas Stars and Finland, is among the Nordic N.H.L. players who have credited their success in hockey to the skating skills they learned as youth bandy players. Unlike Russia and Sweden, whose rosters are filled with professionals, the United States must use part-timers and some older players. Haney, a 44- year-old banker, played a couple of seasons in Sweden and Norway. But younger players who grew up with the Roseville program — like John Arundel and Mike Hosfield, both 24, and Jon Keseley, 25 — have gone to bandy camps in Sweden and have played in top leagues there. “Bandy’s fun, it’s fast and we go to some amazing places,” said Hosfield, who works in international sales. TheInternational Olympic Committee recognizes the sport because the requisite 25 nations have bandy federations (about 14 actually play regularly), but it does not have sufficient standing for the Olympics. The Russians, who will stage the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, are pushing the I.O.C. to give bandy some role at those Games.