Detroit Motor City Mustangs

Roller Hockey International (1995)

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Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks

A Rocking History of Roller Hockey International

By Richard Neil Graham

 

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 pro Roller Hockey team with local celebrity ownership played for just one season at Detroit’s Cobo Arena during the summer of 1995. The team called itself the Motor City Mustangs and The Detroit Free Press played along, but just about everyone else, including league officials at Roller Hockey International (RHI), insisted on the more awkward Detroit Motor City Mustangs.

At the Mustangs’ introductory press conference in March 1995, it was suggested that contemporary Detroit Red Wings stars Shawn Burr and Dino Ciccarelli owned the RHI expansion franchise. Later, this turned out to be not quite accurate. The team was actually owned by Burr and Dino Ciccarelli’s brothers Robert and Larry. Future Hall of Famer Dino would later distance himself from the project (see “Voices” below).

Off To The Glue Factory

The Mustangs hired ex-WHA and NHL player Marty Howe, son of Red Wings legend Gordie Howe, to coach the team. Under Howe, the expansion squad was competitive, finishing 2nd place in their division (11-9-4) behind the St. Louis Vipers and earning a playoff berth. They encountered the Vipers in the first round and lost in a best-of-three series.

27-year old forward Tony Szabo, a veteran of Northern Michigan University’s 1991 NCAA ice hockey championship squad, scored 50 goals for the Mustangs and was named RHI’s 1995 Player-of-the-Year.

At the box office, though, the team was a flop. The Mustangs debuted at Cobo Arena on June 16, 1995 in front of an announced crowd of just 2,481. Owner Shawn Burr watched from the press box.³Harrison, Steve. “Mustangs romp in home debut, 13-5”. The Free Press (Detroit, MI). June 17, 1995 The very next evening he would skate for the Red Wings in Game 1 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils at Joe Louis Arena.

The Mustangs played at Cobo again two nights after the opener, this time featuring a promotional appearance from Detroit icon Gordie Howe. The announced crowd was just 1,065.⁴Sipple, George. “Mustangs win, 7-5, after honoring Gordie Howe”. The Free Press (Detroit, MI). June 19, 1995

The team folded quietly over the winter of 1995-96. Roller Hockey International went out of business following its 1999 season.

Voices

“I’m not involved in the team. I never was. I told them that it would be a hard thing to sell to the public. But I didn’t want to get involved.”

– Dino Ciccarelli, non-Owner, 1995 (to the Detroit Free Press, February 1996)⁵Roose, Bill L. “Detroit roller hockey team will not return”. The Free Press (Detroit, MI). February 1, 1996

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In Memoriam

Mustangs owner Shawn Burr passed away on August 5th, 2013 after suffering a fall at this home. Burr was just 47 years old. USA Today obituary.

Links

Roller Hockey International Media Guides

Roller Hockey International Programs

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