COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey InLine, the official inline hockey program of USA Hockey, announced that the 2009 USA Hockey InLine Cup will be held over to consecutive weekends – Oct. 2-4 and Oct. 9-11 – at the Las Vegas Roller Hockey Center in Las Vegas, Nev.  The USA Hockey InLine Cup is the premier men’s and women’s inline hockey tournament in the United States.

“We are tremendously excited to return the USA Hockey InLine Cup event to Las Vegas,“ said Jeremy Kennedy (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Manager of USA Hockey InLine.  “There is no better location for this event. Each year, more teams are becoming part of the world's premier adult inline hockey tournament.”

Having undergone many renovations over the past few years, including the replacement of the playing surface, upgraded locker rooms, and floor leveling below the playing surface, the Las Vegas Roller Hockey Center continues to be the place to play in Las Vegas.  More improvements to the facility are expected as major renovations are currently underway at the rink.

"It is always a pleasure to host the USA Hockey InLine Cup tournament.  Their staff does an unbelievable job hosting the event and the participating teams are treated very well" said Dan Corsatea (Las Vegas, Nev.), owner of the Las Vegas Roller Hockey Center.  “When the event had to go 24-hours a day last year due to the increase of teams, it was a real testament to quality and success of the event.”

The format for the 2009 USA Hockey InLine Cup will feature competition in the follow divisions: Women’s, Men’s Division I (Premier), Men’s Division II (Competitive), Men’s Division III (Recreational), 40-and-over Division,  and the 50-and-over Division.  Following preliminary round, the women’s teams will be seeded into two divisions for playoffs: Women’s Division I (Competitive) and Women’s Division II (Recreational).  In addition, the Men’s Division III team will be seeded into Men’s Division III and Men’s Division IV for the playoffs.

Selected divisions of play will compete on each respective weekend in order to accommodate as many teams as possible in all divisions.  Competition will begin early morning on Friday, Oct. 2, for Men’s Division III (Recreational) and Women’s Division with the championship games scheduled for Sunday Oct. 4.  Likewise, competition will begin early morning on Friday, Oct. 9, for Men’s Division I (Premier), Men’s Division II (Competitive), 40-and-over Division and the 50-and-over Division with the Championship games scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 11.  Awards will be presented to the top two finishers along with an All-Tournament team for each division.

The USA Hockey InLine Cup was introduced in 1997 to provide national-level competition for adult players of all skill levels.  The tournament has been in Las Vegas ten times in the Twelve-year history of the event.

Teams will be able to register directly for the 2009 USA Hockey InLine Cup without qualifying through a state or regional playoff system.  The team entry fee is $795.  For more information please call 800.888.4656 x134.