Roller Hockey International (1994-1995)
Tombstone
Born: 1994 – RHI expansion franchise
Folded: Postseason 1995
First Game: June 17, 1994 (W 9-8 vs. Montreal Roadrunners)
Last Game: August 11, 1995 (L 6-3 @ St. Louis Vipers)
Murphy Cup Champions: 1994
Arena
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (16,044)11995 Roller Hockey International Media Guide
Opened: 1940
Demolished: 2009
Branding
Team Colors: Black, Red, Marlin Blue & Purple21995 Roller Hockey International Media Guide
Ownership
Owners: Mark Sander & Russ Greenbaum
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
This largely forgotten roller-blade hockey promotion appeared on the Buffalo sports scene in the summer of 1994 and claimed one of the city’s more obscure championships.
Under the direction of head coach Chris McSorley, the expansion Buffalo Stampede won the Murphy Cup championship of the 24-team Roller Hockey International during their debut season in 1994. The team’s leading scorer was a well-travelled minor league ice hockey vet named John Vecchiarelli. Like many RHI players, Vecchiarelli had never tried in-line skates before signing to play in the league. After a 15-3-4 regular season and rolling through three playoff rounds, the Stampede swept the Portland Rage two games to none in the playoff finals to claim the league title.
Instability & Demise
Shortly after the first season ended, the Stampede organization became a circular firing squad. RHI league officials attempted to expel Stampede owners Mark Sander and Russ Greenbaum for unpaid bills. The owners responded by suing a number of league officials, including their own championship-winning head coach Chris McSorley. The team remained in the league in 1995 while the legal jousting played out. McSorley, obviously, did not return. He was replaced by Vecchiarelli in the role of player-coach.
Attendance plummeted by 50% and the defending champion Stampede finished in last place. The team folded at the end of the 1995 season.
Roller Hockey International returned to Buffalo in 1997, bearing a new franchise with a profoundly stupid name: the Buffalo Wings. (The team’s mascot was a pterodactyl).
RHI went out of business following the 1999 season.
Buffalo Stampede Shop
Links
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