roller hockey skates 3 wheels instead of 4???

I've seen a few guys leave an empty axle in their roller skates in roller hockey (giving them 3 wheels instead of 4). I was wondering if there was any reasoning behind this, or if it is just a case of guys having broken wheels/bearings and being too lazy/cheap to replace them.

 

less friction = faster straight line speed, but less traction for turns and stops. not worth the trade off, and also most roller leagues will require full set of wheels.

 

I just lost one of my bearings. That's why I only have 3.

 

Pretty much whenever I've seen (or done) that, it's because the wheel broke/chunked/whatever and the person didn't have a chance to go buy a new one. But that's only in pickup games, any league I've been in has required a full set to play. One guy had a wheel chunk on him part way through a game and they wouldn't let him take his next shift until he found another to put on