The Richmond Wildcats played just 38 games in the faltering Southern Hockey League during the winter of 1976-77. Richmond’s crippling financial problems forced its players to play nearly half the 1976-77 season without salaries or insurance and contributed to the eventual collapse of the SHL midway through its fourth season.
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.
Southern Hockey League (1974-1977) American Hockey League (1977-1978) Born: October 1974: The Fayetteville Arsenal relocates to Hampton, VA Folded: January 31, 1977 Re-Born: 1977 Folded
The Tidewater Sharks were a short-lived franchise in the Southern Hockey League of the mid-1970’s. The SHL was the former Southern Division of the Eastern Hockey League, which seceded from that league in 1973. The Sharks joined up as an expansion franchise two years later, taking advantage of vacant dates at the Norfolk Scope after the Virginia Wings of the American Hockey League left town in the spring of 1975.
Southern Hockey League (1973-1977) Born: 1973 – SHL founding franchise Folded: January 7, 1977 First Game: October 12, 1973 (W 6-4 vs. Greensboro Generals) Last
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