EXETER – There are obvious similarities between ice hockey and its inline equivalent, but also many differences.

For 15-year-old Ty Overholt of Exeter, who recently brought home a silver medal from an international inline tournament called State Wars, it was the differences that stood out.

"It's easier to stop on (ice) skates, and you just have to get used to the feel of roller blades," said Overholt, a South Huron Minor (Ice) Hockey product. "There's no offside, there's no icing."

In this case at the State Wars tournament in Darien, Illinois, the game was four-on-four instead of five-on-five, and required smarter play and better spacing, according to Overholt.

"In (ice) hockey you can get bunched up and it won't cost you, but in inline it will, because there'll always be an open man," he said.

Overholt, who was a defenceman for Team Ontario at the tourney, said there isn't body contact in inline hockey either, something that posed difficulty at his position.

"It's a lot harder," he said. "You can't slide or anything, so you have to take the pass away and let the goalie take the shot."

Whatever the differences, Overholt and his teammates - a group that  included players from Burlington, Thamesford, St. Thomas, Waterloo and Sarnia - overcame them.

They were undefeated until the gold medal game according to Overholt's father Dwayne, beating teams from Michigan, Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois en route to the final.

The gold medal game was a 6-4 loss to Ohio, but Ontario's margin of victory in previous games was often six goals or more.

Overholt said he didn't score in the gold medal game but had four goals in the tournament, along with several assists.

He spoke positively about his experience at State Wars, but professed no preference between inline hockey or its ice-based equivalent.

"They're both good exercise and I just love playing hockey," he said.
Overholt intends to return to the South Huron ice hockey system this winter, playing in his first year at the midget level.

He is the son of Dwayne and Jodi Overholt of Exeter and has a younger brother, Nick.