Roller Hockey International (1993-1996)
Tombstone
Born: 1993 – RHI founding franchise
Folded: December 18, 1996
First Game: July 2, 1993 (W 17-9 @ San Diego Barracudas)
Last Game: August 27, 1996 (L 6-1 @ Anaheim Bullfrogs)
Murphy Cup Championships: None
Arenas
1993-1994: PNE Agrodome
Opened: 1963
1994-1995: Pacific Coliseum (16,150)
Opened: 1968
1996: General Motors Place
Opened: 1995
Marketing
Team Colors:
- 1995: Royal Purple, Black, Orange & White
Ownership
Owners:
- 1993-1995: Tiger Williams & Mike King
- 1996: Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment (Arthur Griffiths)
Sale (1995): $230,000 (Williams to Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment)1Hall, Neal. “Former Voodoo president wins $100,000 suit against Tiger Williams’ company”. The Sun (Vancouver, BC). May 31, 1997
Editor's Pick
Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks
A Rocking History of Roller Hockey International
Who won the first professional sports championship for the city of Anaheim? Which Roller Hockey International team owner posed for Playboy? Which RHI team’s logo did Sports Illustrated describe as looking like “a malevolent vacuum-cleaner attachment?” Which coach won two championships for two different teams in RHI’s first two seasons? Why were fans nearly ejected from the Oakland Skates’ arena for celebrating a hat trick?
Author Richard Graham takes you behind the scenes to show how Dennis Murphy created Roller Hockey International, and why Murphy might be the most unlikely, least known and most influential visionary in North American professional sports history.
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Background
The Vancouver Voodoo were a modestly popular novelty hockey outfit during the mid-1990’s. The Voodoo were one of the 12 original franchises in Roller Hockey International (RHI) in 1993. RHI was an attempt to capitalize on the recreational in-line skating boom of the era. Teams played on a Sport Court surface layed down over the concrete sub-flooring of basketball and hockey arenas. The league gained exposure from a national cable television contract with ESPN that ran from 1993 until 1996.
Most Roller Hockey International players were minor league hockey players moonlighting during their summer off-season. A handful of retired NHL stars, such as Bryan Trottier and Ron Duguay, played in the league. The Voodoo featured former Canuck Jose Charbonneau, who led RHI in scoring during the league’s debut season in 1993. Charbonneau used his Roller Hockey showcase to earn a new contract in the NHL with the Canucks. Bruising Vancouver native Sasha Lakovic also went on to play in the NHL after playing for the Voodoo.
Demise
The Voodoo were founded by former Vancouver Canucks enforcer Tiger Williams and Mike King. Williams was (and still as, as of 2017) the NHL’s all-time leading in penalty minutes. In April 1996, Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, parent company of the Canucks and the NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies, purchased the Voodoo. The Voodoo moved into the brand-new General Motors Place for the summer 1996 campaign. But Orca Bay management changed hands in November 1996. New controlling owner John McCaw folded the Roller Hockey franchise the following month, just one year after the Canucks’ parent company acquired the team.
The Voodoo won the division for all four seasons of their existence. The team under-performed in the postseason though and never made it past the second round of the playoffs.
Roller Hockey International Shop
Vancouver Voodoo Video
Voodoo vs. the San Jose Rhinos at San Jose Arena from a 1994 ESPN broadcast.
In Memoriam
Sasha Lakovic (Voodoo ’93-’94) died from brain cancer on April 25, 2017 at the age of 45. CBC News obituary.
Links
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