Eastern Hockey League (1967-1970) Born: 1967 Re-Branded: 1970 (Roanoke Valley Rebels) First Game: Last Game: Walker Cup Championships (EHL): None Salem-Roanoke Valley Civic Center (4,042)
The Jersey Larks were a One-Year Wonder that played in the Eastern Hockey League during the winter of 1960-61. The Larks were the first pro sports tenant of Cherry Hill’s Haddonfield Ice House, erected in 1959. The building was better known in later years as Cherry Hill Arena. The Larks lost their franchise due to financial difficulties and moved away to Knoxville, Tennessee under new ownership after one season. EHL hockey returned to the Ice House with the formation of the Jersey Devils club in 1964.
The Roanoke Valley Rebels were a Virginia minor league hockey outfit during the early-mid 1970’s. The franchise originated in nearby Salem, Virginia in 1967 when that city opened a 4,000-seat Civic Center. The team moved most of its games to the new and larger Roanoke Civic Center upon its opening in 1971, but continued to play some dates in Salem. The Rebels were champions of the six-team Southern Hockey League in 1976. The club disbanded in 1976.
Knoxville’s first pro hockey team, the Knights, competed in the rough-and-tumble Eastern Hockey League from 1961 until financial problems torpedoed the franchise in 1968. Key alumni include long-time NHL player and coach Pat Quinn (1963-64) and left wing Dennis Hextall (1966-67), who played 13 NHL seasons from 1967 to 1980.
This 1964-65 New York Rangers farm club in the Eastern Hockey League was the last of several versions of the New York Rovers ice hockey team. Like the original Rovers, who started out back in 1935 as a senior amateur club in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League and played until 1952, the 1964-65 Rovers traditionally played Sunday afternoon matinees at Madison Square Garden. The team disbanded only one season.
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