Roller Hockey International
Roller Hockey International (RHI) was a professional inline hockey league in the United States and Canada . It existed from 1993 to 1999 and was the first professional league in inline hockey. The winner of the play-offs received the Murphy Cup, named after the league founder Dennis A. Murphy.
With the inline skate boom in the USA in the early 1990s, more and more ice hockey players discovered inline skates as an alternative for the summer. As a result, RHI was founded in order to permanently establish the league in the course of the emerging trend. The players came mainly from the North American ice hockey minor leagues . The league started with twelve teams and was increased by twelve more in the second year, but with the decline of the trend sport inline hockey, it got financial problems and its popularity fell. When the remaining ten teams announced their end in 1998 or switched to the major league roller hockey competition , the 1998 season was canceled. In 1999, after a one-year break, RHI started again with eight teams, but had to cancel the 2000 season as well. In 2001 the league was finally dissolved.
Mode and rules
| season | Teams | Main round games |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 12 | 14th |
| 1994 | 24 | 22nd |
| 1995 | 19th | 24 |
| 1996 | 18th | 28 |
| 1997 | 10 | 24 |
| 1999 | 8th | 26th |
Due to the great variation in the participating teams, no continuous mode could be established. The number of games fluctuated from 14 to 28 main round games, with an average of 23 games over all six seasons.
The rules were based on the ice hockey rules of the National Hockey League . The playing surface corresponded roughly to the current requirements in inline hockey. The teams played in multifunctional arenas in front of several thousand spectators. The catalog of penalties provided for the following sanctions:
- minor penalty: 1½ min
- Double minor penalty: 3 min
- major penalty (major): 4 min
- Misconduct: 10 min
- Major Game Misconduct: 10 min + 1 game suspension + penalty shot for the opponent
In the event of a brawl, as in the NHL, a player received a major penalty. In addition, he was excluded from the current game and the next one. In the NHL, however, a player may intervene again after serving the major penalty.
The playing time was four times twelve minutes, a team consisted of twelve to 14 field players and two goalkeepers. In the event of a tie after the end of regular playing time, there was always a shootout without overtime . The winner of a game received two points, the loser zero. One point was awarded for a defeat after a penalty shootout.
Teams
Roller Hockey International played from 1993 to 1997 and 1999. A total of 31 franchises started in the league, eight times they were relocated (two franchises were even relocated twice). In two cases, franchises renamed themselves without changing location.
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Murphy Cup winner
| season | winner | series | finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Anaheim Bullfrogs | 2–0 | Oakland skates |
| 1994 | Buffalo Stampede | 2–0 | Portland Rage |
| 1995 | San Jose Rhinos | 2–1 | Montreal Roadrunners |
| 1996 | Orlando Jackals | 2–1 | Anaheim Bullfrogs |
| 1997 | Anaheim Bullfrogs | 2–0 | New Jersey Rockin Rollers |
| 1999 | St. Louis Vipers | 1–0 | Anaheim Bullfrogs |