Pro Beach Hockey

Last updated

Pro Beach Hockey (PBH) was a professional inline hockey league. The league was created by David McLane, who had previously created the World Roller Hockey League. It lasted three seasons, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Contents

PBH games were played with a ball instead of a puck on an outdoor rink on the beach at Huntington Beach, California. The season lasted slightly less than two months in the early summer. Games were taped during the short season and aired on ESPN2 from June to September. The league is infamous for having ramps behind the nets to "increase speed," angled glass sections attached to the top of the dasher board glass to redirect the ball back into play and a 2-point line that was treated much like basketball's 3 point line. [1]

The first taped events were shot in May 1998 and televised later on ESPN in an attempt to reach the younger audience. Cheerleaders and bands performed turning the tapings into an event. [2] The team uniform designs were memorable for their bright, colorful designs [3] that some observers have laughed at. [4] Hockey fans appreciated that PBH kept the sport alive on television during summer months. [5]

PBH players were mostly Roller Hockey International (RHI) players, several of which had previous National Hockey League (NHL) experience. The players were paid from a bonus pool depending on how each team finished each season.

Web Warriors won the first PBH championship, named The James J. Allegro Cup, over Dawg Pac, two games to none. Xpress won the second PBH championship in 1999 over Heavy Metal, two games to one. Web Warriors won the final PBH championship in 2000.

Ultimately, ESPN was unhappy with the TV ratings the league was receiving and decided to stop financially sponsoring the league.

Teams

Documentary Film

A documentary about the league is being produced by Jeanie Buss and NHL players Max McCormick and Chris Driedger [6]

It is scheduled to be released in 2024.

Related Research Articles

Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hockey puck</span> Sports equipment for ice hockey

A hockey puck is either an open or closed disk used in a variety of sports and games. There are designs made for use on an ice surface, such as in ice hockey, and others for the different variants of floor hockey which includes the wheeled skate variant of inline hockey. They are all designed to serve the same function a ball does in ball games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quebec Bulldogs</span> Ice hockey team from 1878 to 1920

The Quebec Bulldogs were a men's senior-level ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The team was officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club, and later as the Quebec Athletic Club. One of the first organized ice hockey clubs, the club debuted in 1878 with the opening of the Quebec Skating Rink. The club continued as an amateur team through various leagues, eventually becoming professional in 1908. The club would play in the National Hockey Association and the National Hockey League. In 1920, the team moved to Hamilton, Ontario and became the Hamilton Tigers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inline skating</span> Sport discipline

Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a metal or plastic frame on the underside of a boot. The in-line design allows for greater speed and maneuverability than traditional roller skates. Following this basic design principle, inline skates can be modified to varying degrees to accommodate niche disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manon Rhéaume</span> Canadian ice hockey player (born 1972)

Manon Rhéaume is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first woman to play in an exhibition game in any of the major North American pro-sports leagues.

The 1918–19 NHL season was the second season of the National Hockey League (NHL). While at first it was uncertain that the NHL would operate, and the possibility that National Hockey Association (NHA) would be resumed, the unfinished business of Eddie Livingstone's Toronto and Ottawa's NHA franchise, led to the NHL owners suspending the NHA again. Livingstone would attempt to overthrow the NHA management, and failing that, attempt to operate a rival league. The pre-season was filled with legal actions, deceptions and public verbal attacks. Ultimately, the NHL operated with three teams, in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. However, the season ended early with Toronto suspending operations, leaving Montreal and Ottawa to play off for the championship. Montreal would win the playoff and travel to Seattle for the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the championship series was not completed due to influenza infecting the whole Montreal team and causing the eventual death of Montreal's Joe Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roller Hockey International</span> Inline hockey league

Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roller in-line hockey</span> Sport discipline

Roller in-line hockey, American roller hockey or inline hockey, is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. The sport is a very fast-paced and free-flowing game and is considered a contact sport, but body checking is prohibited. There are five players including the goalkeeper from each team on the rink at a time, while teams normally consist of 16 players. There are professional leagues, one of which is the National Roller Hockey League (NRHL). While it is not a contact sport, there are exceptions, i.e. the NRHL involves fighting.

The Sunshine Hockey League (SuHL) was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 to 1995. The league was based in Florida and consisted of five teams in its inaugural 1992–93 season. Each team's initial head coaches were former NHL players including Bill Nyrop, West Palm Beach; Rocky Saganiuk, Daytona Beach; Jim Mikol, Lakeland Warriors; and Lou Francheschetti, Jacksonville Bullets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David McLane</span> American wrestling promoter

David B. McLane is an American businessman, known primarily as a wrestling promoter and television producer. He was the creator of the GLOW-Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and WOW-Women Of Wrestling, both nationally syndicated series. He also created the ESPN series of the World Roller Hockey League, Pro Beach Hockey and the Triple Crown of Polo. All of these programs are termed "properties" under his company banner David McLane Enterprises, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Ftorek</span> American ice hockey player and coach

Robert Brian Ftorek is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was enshrined as member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional Inline Hockey Association</span>

The Professional Inline Hockey Association (PIHA) is an "incorporated for-profit association" which operates an inline hockey league, with two conferences, of 11 franchised member clubs, all of which are currently located in the United States. Headquartered in Middletown, Pennsylvania, the PIHA is considered to be one of the premier inline hockey leagues in the United States. The Founders Cup Finals is held annually to crown the league playoff champion in the Pro and Minor divisions at the end of each season. PIHA also offers divisions for teens, & adults 35-and-over.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Hamilton, Ontario</span>

In 1930 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada was the site of the very first Commonwealth Games, then known as the British Empire Games. The Games came to Hamilton as a result of the efforts of Melville Marks Robinson, and were Canada's first major international athletic event, and bid unsuccessfully for the Commonwealth Games in 2010, losing out to New Delhi in India. On 7 November 2009, in Guadalajara, Mexico it was announced that Toronto will host the 2015 Pan Am Games after beating out two rival South American cities, Lima, Peru and Bogota, Colombia. The city of Hamilton will be co-hosting the Games with Toronto. Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said "the Pan Am Games will provide a 'unique opportunity for Hamilton to renew major sport facilities giving Hamiltonians a multi-purpose stadium, a 50-metre swimming pool, and an international-calibre velodrome to enjoy for generations to come.'"

Craig Raymond Coxe is an American former professional ice hockey player. In addition to playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and the San Jose Sharks. Coxe also played two seasons of major league roller hockey in the RHI, after having grown up playing hockey in Tucson, Arizona, from 1969 to 1975 and in Laguna Beach, California. He lives in the suburbs of Saint Ignace, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major League Roller Hockey</span>

Major League Roller Hockey (MLRH) is a limited liability company which operates multiple inline hockey leagues and tournaments. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, MLRH is one of the only full-contact inline hockey competitions in the world.

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) was an originally amateur and later professional ice hockey league founded in 1896 and existing through 1909. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league became the pre-eminent ice hockey league in the United States. It was the first league to openly hire and trade players.

The USA Rink Hockey National Championship is the biggest Roller Hockey Clubs Championship in United States. In the U.S., the sport is largely owned by roller rink operators. The sport suffers stateside since players are mostly made up of operator's family members and a gaggle of childhood friends. Since the sport transitioned to the United States in the 1960s, teams and players competing in the United States have waned as roller rinks continue to close nationwide. Teams are often completed by tapping skaters from ice or inline hockey who are willing to give it a go and round out teams at U.S. nationals; many playing on inline skates. The sport is struggling in the U.S. due to the lack of public access to the sport found in other countries where the sport continues to grow. In contrast to other countries, the U.S. players and teams are managed and vetted by roller rink operators and their families. This practice explains the recurring players, teams, and regions who compete each year, and the loss of total number of teams since the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Buffalo</span>

Buffalo, New York and its greater metropolitan area is currently home to two major league sports teams, the Buffalo Sabres & Buffalo Bills. Buffalo is also home to several other major and minor league sports teams, including the Buffalo Bandits, Buffalo Bisons, Buffalo eXtreme and FC Buffalo. Local colleges active in NCAA Division I athletics include Canisius University, Niagara University, St. Bonaventure University and University at Buffalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Orange County, California</span>

Sports in Orange County, California includes a number of sports teams and sports competitions. Within Orange County, the city of Anaheim currently hosts two major league sports teams — MLB's Los Angeles Angels and the NHL's Anaheim Ducks — and used to host two others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ice hockey in the United States</span>

Ice hockey, referred to in the US simply as "hockey", is a popular sport in the United States. Hockey in the US began in 1894 when the first artificial ice rink was built in Baltimore, Maryland. Now hockey is most popular in regions of the US with cold winter climates, such as the northeast and the upper Midwest. However, since the 1990s, ice hockey has become increasingly popular in the Sun Belt due in large part to the expansion of the National Hockey League to the southeast and southwest US, coupled with the mass relocation of many residents from northern cities with strong hockey support to these Sun Belt locations.

References

  1. ↑ McLEOD, PAUL (2 May 1998). "MELTING THE ICE : Pro Beach Hockey, which debuts today at the Huntington Beach Pier, features several gimmicks, including ramps behind the goals, but the price is right: it's free to watch" – via LA Times.
  2. ↑ "Alas, Poor Fasty Lashaft". supertotallyawesome.com.
  3. ↑ "Anaheim Ducks call on 42-year-old emergency goalie Friday". 5 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Yahoo Sports - Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games". Yahoo Sports.
  5. ↑ "Why the '90s were the golden age for American hockey fans". 28 May 2017.
  6. ↑ Jakiel, Olivia (June 27, 2024). "Pro Beach Hockey: Sun, Surf and Slapshots: Everything to Know". Us Weekly.


Roller Inline Hockey.svg

This inline hockey related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.