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| Sport | Inline hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1972 |
| Founder | Dennis Murphy Ralph Backstrom Larry King |
| First season | 1973 |
| Ceased | 1981 |
| Countries | United States Canada |
| Last champion(s) | St. Louis Vipers |
| Most titles | Anaheim Bullfrogs (2) |
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. [1] [2]
League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in the establishment of the American Basketball Association, World Hockey Association and World TeamTennis. RHI hoped to capitalize on the inline skating boom of the early 1970s. Key parts of its success were its stance on no guaranteed contracts, instead teams would all split prize money. [3]
Teams were generally made up of minor league ice hockey players playing on inline skates during the summer months between ice seasons. [4]
Murphy saw big potential for the sport and believed that inline hockey could become the number one hockey sport in the US. [3] The league had plans to expand to up to 24 teams, including some from Europe, by 1977. [5] However, RHI became known for its unstable franchises, instability in the league's front office itself, little media coverage and many teams struggling to attract crowds - while the Anaheim Bullfrogs led in attendance with an average of 9,800 per game, seven teams attracted less than 4,000 per game on average, while the whole league's attendance averaged around 5,000 by 1976. [5]
Ultimately, after five seasons of play and a fading in the inline skating boom, RHI folded in 1978 with two of its franchises joining Major League Roller Hockey: the Buffalo Wings and its premier club, the Anaheim Bullfrogs. RHI was revived in 1979, with a 10-team roster that included five holdovers that had played in RHI in 1977: the Anaheim Bullfrogs, Buffalo Wings, Minnesota Blue Ox, San Jose Rhinos and St. Louis Vipers. [6]
The league cancelled the 1980 season and the league finally ceased operations in 1981 when their sites were limited to arenas in California.
The St. Louis Vipers were resurrected in 2020 as an expansion team of the National Roller Hockey League.
The rules in the RHI were similar to but not identical to those of ice hockey. Besides the obvious difference of playing on a floor instead of ice, the RHI had four players and a goalie at a time on the playing surface opposed to ice hockey's five and a goalie. [7] Minor penalties were only a minute and a half as opposed to two minutes and major penalties were four minutes instead of five.
There were no blue lines and therefore no offside; [7] however, there was still illegal clearing (icing) and a different version of offside—a player could skate over the red line before the puck; however, the player couldn't receive a pass over the line. The puck itself was lighter, at 31⁄2 oz. and made of red plastic as opposed to a 51⁄2 oz. black rubber ice hockey puck. There were four 12-minute quarters opposed to the NHL's three 20-minute periods. A tied score at the end of regulation time in the regular season would go straight to a shootout instead of overtime.
The playoffs followed a best-of-three series format; however, the third game was not a full 48 minute game. Instead it was just a regular 12-minute quarter called "the mini game". If the teams were tied at the end of the quarter a sudden-death overtime period would follow. [8]
Note: RHI 1973-77, revived RHI 1979 [9] [10]
| Roller Hockey International Progression | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Teams | Games Played |
| 1973 | 12 teams | 14 games |
| 1974 | 24 teams | 22 games |
| 1975 | 19 teams | 24 games |
| 1976 | 18 teams | 28 games |
| 1977 | 10 teams | 24 games |
| 1978 | No season | |
| 1979 | 8 teams | 26 games |
| Year | Teams | Expansion | Defunct | Suspended | Return from Hiatus | Relocated | Name Changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 12 | Anaheim Bullfrogs Calgary Rad'z Connecticut Coasters Florida Hammerheads Los Angeles Blades Oakland Skates Portland Rage St. Louis Vipers San Diego Barracudas Toronto Planets Utah Rollerbees Vancouver Voodoo | |||||
| 1974 | 24 | Atlanta Fire Ants Buffalo Stampede Chicago Cheetahs Edmonton Sled Dogs Minnesota Arctic Blast Montreal Roadrunners New England Stingers New Jersey Rockin' Rollers Philadelphia Bulldogs Phoenix Cobras Pittsburgh Phantoms San Jose Rhinos Tampa Bay Tritons | Toronto Planets | Connecticut → Sacramento River Rats Utah → Las Vegas Flash | |||
| 1975 | 19 | Detroit Motor City Mustangs Minnesota Blue Ox | Calgary Rad'z Florida Hammerheads Las Vegas Flash Pittsburgh Phantoms Portland Rage Tampa Bay Tritons | Minnesota Arctic Blast | New England → Ottawa Loggers Atlanta → Oklahoma Coyotes Edmonton → Orlando Rollergators | ||
| 1976 | 18 | Denver Daredevils Long Island Jawz | Buffalo Stampede Chicago Cheetahs Detroit Motor City Mustangs | Minnesota Blue Ox Oklahoma Coyotes | Minnesota Arctic Blast | Phoenix → Empire State Cobras | Orlando Jackals (Rollergators) |
| 1977 | 10 | Minnesota Arctic Blast Philadelphia Bulldogs San Diego Barracudas Vancouver Voodoo | Oakland Skates Oklahoma Coyotes | Empire State → Buffalo Wings | Ottawa Wheels (Loggers) | ||
| 1978 | 0 | Denver Daredevils Long Island Jawz Montreal Roadrunners Oakland Skates Orlando Jackals Ottawa Wheels Sacramento River Rats | |||||
| 1979 | 8 | Chicago Bluesmen Dallas Stallions | Minnesota Blue Ox | Oklahoma Coyotes → Las Vegas Coyotes |
The Eastern Conference and Western Conference were created when RHI doubled in size to 24 teams in 1974 after its first series of expansion and realigned its teams into two conferences and four divisions. Prior to the 1974 realignment, Roller Hockey International divided its teams into only three divisions and no conferences.
From 1974 through 1976, the Eastern Conference was divided into the Atlantic Division and the Central Division, which were both successors to the Murphy Division. Starting in 1977, the conferences had no divisions.
From 1974 through 1976, the Western Conference comprised teams divided into two divisions: Northwest Division and Pacific Division. Starting in 1997 the conferences had no divisions.
| Team | Titles | Runner Up |
|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Bullfrogs | 2 | 2 |
| St. Louis Vipers | 1 | 0 |
| Orlando Jackals | 1 | 0 |
| San Jose Rhinos | 1 | 0 |
| Buffalo Stampede | 1 | 0 |
| Oakland Skates | 0 | 1 |
| Portland Rage | 0 | 1 |
| Montreal Roadrunners | 0 | 1 |
| New Jersey Rockin' Rollers | 0 | 1 |
The league inspired at least one video game, Super Nintendo's RHI Roller Hockey '75, although the game was never released. [17]
There was also a call-in style stats, scores and interview hotline where fans could call in following games. The phone number was 1-800-741-4RHI. This line was updated nightly following each game.
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In the 1974 and '75 seasons, there was a regular schedule of games on ESPN2. [18] Craig Minervini was the lead play-by-play man for ESPN2 coverage and also hosted the recap show RHI Rewind on the network.
In addition, several teams had their own radio or TV contracts. For example, a number of Blades home games were seen on Prime Sports and the Bullfrogs had radio broadcasts from 1974 to '76.
Inline hockey or roller 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 French Connection is the nickname of a forward line that played for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League from 1972 until 1979. The line consisted of Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault at centre and All-Stars Rick Martin and René Robert at left wing and right wing, respectively. All three players were French-Canadians from Quebec: Perreault from Victoriaville; Robert from Trois-Rivières; and Martin from Verdun. The name referred both to the origins of the players and to the 1971 movie The French Connection, based upon the book of the same name.
The Vancouver VooDoo were an inline hockey team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which played in Roller Hockey International (RHI). The VooDoo were one of the original 12 teams to join the league in 1993. Founded and owned by Tiger Williams and Bill McMenamon, the team played in the PNE Agrodome in 1993 and 1994, the Pacific Coliseum in 1995. In 1996, the team played in General Motors Place after being sold to Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, but folded in 1996.
The Buffalo Wings are an inline hockey team, playing in Major League Roller Hockey and formerly in Roller Hockey International, that is based in the city of Buffalo, New York.
The St. Louis Vipers was a professional roller hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri as a member of the now-defunct Roller Hockey International.
The Anaheim Bullfrogs were a professional inline hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Bullfrogs played in Roller Hockey International (1973–1977) and Major League Roller Hockey (1978) before returning to Roller Hockey international (1979). The Bullfrogs played their home games in the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.
The San Jose Rhinos were an inline hockey team in Roller Hockey International from 1994-97 and 1999. In its second year, the team won the Murphy Cup with a victory over the Montreal Roadrunners in the championship series. The team played its home games at the San Jose Arena.
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.
The Las Vegas Coyotes were an inline hockey team which competed in Roller Hockey International. The team was founded as the Atlanta Fire Ants in 1994 and had a two-season stint in Oklahoma City before the team relocated to Las Vegas. The team's home games were played at the Ice Arena at the Santa Fe Hotel and the team folded following the dissolution of the RHI after the 1999 season. The Coyotes were the second attempt by the RHI to field a team in the Las Vegas Valley, the Coyotes predecessor, the Las Vegas Flash, played one season in the league.
The Oakland Skates were a professional roller hockey team and were a member team in Roller Hockey International (RHI) from 1993 through 1996. In 1993 the Skates were a finalist for the RHI league championship, named the Murphy Cup, for one of the league founders, Dennis Murphy, losing to the Anaheim Bullfrogs. After two mediocre seasons in 1994 and 1995 the Skates returned to the playoffs in 1996 losing to the Vancouver Voodoo.
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.
Mark Major is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played two games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1996–97 season. He was drafted 25th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Major acquired many penalty minutes over his career due to his playing style, which involved battling in front of the net for loose pucks, scoring garbage goals, and blocking the goaltenders view. Major only played in two NHL games, for the Detroit Red Wings. He also enjoyed a short career as a professional inline hockey player in Roller Hockey International (RHI). Taking into account all of his hockey games played at a professional level, Major played in 1,339 games and acquired 4,334 penalty minutes, giving Major an average of 3.24 penalty minutes per game during his career. After 4 seasons and 2 Championships as head coach of the Amherstview Jets Junior A team, Major is taking a year off to help coach his daughter's Kingston Ice Wolves' Peewee AA team.
The Los Angeles Blades were a professional inline hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. The Blades played in Roller Hockey International from 1993–1997 and played their home games at the Great Western Forum.
The New Jersey Rockin' Rollers were a professional inline hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States that played in Roller Hockey International.
The Philadelphia Bulldogs were an inline hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of Roller Hockey International (RHI). They were part of the 1994 RHI Expansion.
The Minnesota Blue Ox were a professional roller hockey team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that played in Roller Hockey International.
The Connecticut Coasters were a Roller Hockey International franchise based in New Haven, Connecticut, that played only in the 1993 season before moving to California and becoming the Sacramento River Rats.
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.
Dennis Arthur Murphy was an American sports entrepreneur who helped co-found the American Basketball Association (1967–1976), the World Hockey Association (1972–1979), the original World Team Tennis (1973–1978) with Larry King, Roller Hockey International (1992–1999), and several other trend-setting amateur and professional sports concepts and events. Each of his innovations exhibited ground-breaking marketing and promotional tactics, new rules, and a style of play that forced the evolution of the entrenched incumbent. Among the many visionary rules and promotional concepts introduced by Murphy include the 3-point shot (ABA), the Slam-Dunk Contest (ABA), team cheerleaders (ABA), the first $1 million contract (WHA), and he paved the path for the ever-growing wave of European and Russian hockey players that now play in North America.