Roller Hockey International (1994-1995)
Tombstone
Born: March 22, 1994 – RHI expansion franchise
Moved: January 1996 (Empire State Cobras)
First Game: June 3, 1994 (W 6-5 vs. Vancouver Voodoo)
Last Game: August 14, 1995 (L 7-3 @ San Jose Rhinos)
Murphy Cup Championships: None
Arena
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum (13,747)
Opened: 1965
Marketing
Team Colors:
- 1995: Black, Red & Yellow
Ownership
Owners:
- 1994: Lee Kasper & Stuart Silver
- 1995: Roller Hockey International
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 Phoenix Cobras were a short-lived pro roller hockey promotion that set up shop at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum during the summer of 1994.
Roller Hockey International used the same 200′ x 85′ rink layout as its ice-bound cousin, but otherwise the rules of the two sports were quite different. Teams competed 5-on-5 rather than 6-on-6. As in basketball, RHI games featured four 12-minute quarters rather than three 20-minute periods. Fighting was prohibited altogether.
Most RHI teams played on a modular surface called SportCourt – the company was actually an early investor in the league – but the Cobras were among a small number of clubs that played their home games on cement.
Performance
Cobras players were mostly minor league ice hockey players picking up a modest paycheck during their summer vacation. The Cobras’ all-time top scorer, former Harvard star Mike Vukonich, previously skated three seasons with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League.
The Cobras qualified for the playoffs in each of their seasons but were bounced in the first round both years, losing to the Calgary Rad’z in 1994 and the San Jose Rhinos in 1995.
The team struggled behind the scenes. Original owner Lee Kasper walked away from the franchise after the first season. Roller Hockey International was forced to operate the Cobras as a league-run club for the 1995 season. New owners eventually purchased the Cobras in January 1996 and moved the club to upstate New York, where it played one more season before folding.
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