The 1996 RHI season was the 4th season of Roller Hockey International. It began in May 1996, with the regular season ending on August 12, 1996. The Murphy Cup playoffs ended on September 2, with the Orlando Jackals defeating the Anaheim Bullfrogs to win their first Murphy Cup. The Anaheim Bullfrogs hosted the 3rd RHI All-Star Game at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California on July 8, 1996.
League business[]
Franchise changes[]
Arena changes[]
The Montreal Roadrunners, Ottawa Loggers, and Vancouver Voodoo all moved into their cities' new arenas; Molson Centre in Montreal, Corel Centre in Ottawa, and General Motors Place in Vancouver. The Oakland Skates also moved to the Kaiser Convention Center. The New Jersey Rockin Rollers' and Philadelphia Bulldogs' arenas were renamed to the Continental Airlines Arena and CoreStates Spectrum respectively.
New uniforms[]
The Orlando Rollergators were renamed the Orlando Jackals and debuted a new logo and uniforms. The Sacramento River Rats and Vancouver Voodoo both debuted slightly altered uniforms.
Contraction[]
The Chicago Cheetahs folded after two seasons in the league. The Detroit Motor City Mustangs and Minnesota Blue Ox folded after only one season in the league. The Buffalo Stampede folded after their second season, and their roster was picked up by the Empire State Cobras, formerly the Phoenix Cobras.
Relocation[]
The Phoenix Cobras relocated to Glens Falls, New York to become the Empire State Cobras, but the Phoenix Cobras players did not transfer with the franchise. The players went into a supplemental draft, and the Cobras picked up the folded Buffalo Stampede's roster.
Expansion[]
The league added three franchises, including the Denver Daredevils, Long Island Jawz, and the Minnesota Arctic Blast, who were on hiatus for the 1995 season.
Realignment[]
In the Atlantic Division, the Montreal Roadrunners and Ottawa Loggers were moved to the Central Division. The three existing franchises, the New Jersey Rockin Rollers, Orlando Jackals (formerly the Orlando Rollergators), and Philadelphia Bulldogs were joined by the Empire State Cobras, formerly the Phoenix Cobras, and the expansion Long Island Jawz, to bring the total back to five teams.
In the Central Division, the Buffalo Stampede, Chicago Cheetahs, Detroit Motor City Mustangs, and Minnesota Blue Ox all folded before the 1996 season. The only remaining franchise, the St. Louis Vipers, were joined by the Montreal Roadrunners and Ottawa Loggers from the Atlantic, and the newly reformed Minnesota Arctic Blast, lowering the division's teams to four.
The Northwest Division was the only division to remain the same from the 1995 season.
In the Pacific Division, the Empire State Cobras, formerly the Phoenix Cobras, were moved to the Atlantic Division. The remaining four teams, the Anaheim Bullfrogs, Los Angeles Blades, Oklahoma Coyotes, and San Diego Barracudas were joined by the expansion Denver Daredevils to bring the total number of teams back to five.
Season schedule[]
RHI again increased its regular season schedule from 24 to 28 games per team.
Regular season[]
Eastern Conference
| Atlantic Division | GP | W | L | SOL | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empire State Cobras (2) | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 202 | 168 | 462 | 37 |
| Orlando Jackals (3) | 28 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 231 | 201 | 448 | 36 |
| Long Island Jawz | 28 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 246 | 211 | 513 | 35 |
| Philadelphia Bulldogs | 28 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 202 | 199 | 570 | 35 |
| New Jersey Rockin Rollers | 28 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 167 | 227 | 374 | 18 |
| Central Division | GP | W | L | SOL | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Arctic Blast (1) | 28 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 246 | 200 | 370 | 44 |
| St. Louis Vipers (4) | 28 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 207 | 209 | 520 | 31 |
| Montreal Roadrunners | 28 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 177 | 174 | 463 | 31 |
| Ottawa Loggers | 28 | 3 | 22 | 3 | 174 | 263 | 463 | 9 |
Western Conference
| Northwest Division | GP | W | L | SOL | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Voodoo (2) | 28 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 217 | 162 | 665 | 39 |
| Oakland Skates (3) | 28 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 187 | 181 | 456 | 32 |
| San Jose Rhinos | 28 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 189 | 180 | 764 | 31 |
| Sacramento River Rats | 28 | 10 | 17 | 1 | 185 | 229 | 456 | 21 |
| Pacific Division | GP | W | L | SOL | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Bullfrogs (1) | 28 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 215 | 159 | 495 | 46 |
| Los Angeles Blades (4) | 28 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 160 | 155 | 438 | 33 |
| Oklahoma Coyotes | 28 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 174 | 174 | 524 | 29 |
| San Diego Barracudas | 28 | 9 | 18 | 1 | 183 | 233 | 553 | 19 |
| Denver Daredevils | 28 | 8 | 17 | 3 | 173 | 210 | 467 | 19 |
Tiebreaking procedures[]
If two or more clubs are tied in points during the regular season, the ranking of the clubs is determined in the following order:
- The fewer number of games played.
- The greater number of games won.
- The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing.
- The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season.
- The fewer number of goals against.
Statistical leaders[]
Scoring leaders[]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hugo Belanger |
Long Island Jawz | 25 | 48 | 53 | 101 | +29 | 6 |
| Doug Ast |
Vancouver Voodoo | 28 | 50 | 41 | 91 | +25 | 32 |
| Gerry St. Cyr |
Sacramento River Rats | 28 | 48 | 41 | 89 | +9 | 37 |
 Cory Laylin |
Minnesota Arctic Blast | 28 | 42 | 47 | 89 | +15 | 16 |
| Mark Woolf |
San Jose Rhinos | 27 | 32 | 53 | 85 | +24 | 25 |
| Vincent Giannone |
Empire State Cobras | 25 | 21 | 63 | 84 | +12 | 62 |
| Victor Gervais |
Anaheim Bullfrogs | 25 | 29 | 55 | 84 | +21 | 58 |
| Daniel Shank |
Orlando Jackals | 28 | 31 | 50 | 81 | +15 | 52 |
| Christian Skoryna |
St. Louis Vipers | 28 | 36 | 44 | 80 | +8 | 38 |
| John Young |
Minnesota Arctic Blast | 28 | 24 | 55 | 79 | +10 | 32 |
Leading goaltenders[]
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | OTL | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Ferguson |
Los Angeles Blades | 16 | 606:56 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 61 | 0 | .877 | 4.82 |
| Eric Raymond |
Anaheim Bullfrogs | 9 | 418:41 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 0 | .848 | 5.04 |
| Scott Humphrey |
Vancouver Voodoo | 17 | 691:30 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 78 | 0 | .871 | 5.41 |
| Bill Horn |
Orlando Jackals | 11 | 480:51 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 0 | .843 | 5.59 |
| Nick Vitucci |
Empire State Cobras | 15 | 717:07 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 85 | 0 | .846 | 5.69 |
| David Goverde |
Empire State Cobras | 13 | 622:05 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 74 | 0 | .866 | 5.71 |
| Pat Mazzoli |
Long Island Jawz | 8 | 374:52 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 45 | 0 | .835 | 5.76 |
| Rob Laurie |
Anaheim Bullfrogs | 21 | 922:18 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 112 | 0 | .839 | 5.83 |
| Bob Bell |
Vancouver Voodoo | 13 | 600:42 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 73 | 0 | .832 | 5.83 |
| Grant Sjerven |
San Jose Rhinos | 10 | 382:59 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 47 | 0 | .834 | 5.89 |
Playoffs[]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Empire State Cobras | 7, 7, 5 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Orlando Jackals | 9, 4, 11 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Orlando Jackals | 14, 8 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis Vipers | 4, 7 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota Arctic Blast | 6, 6, 5 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis Vipers | 12, 4, 9 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Orlando Jackals | 8, 9, 8 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Anaheim Bullfrogs | 9, 6, 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Vancouver Voodoo | 1, 5, 12 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Oakland Skates | 9, 2, 3 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Vancouver Voodoo | 9, 6, 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Anaheim Bullfrogs | 5, 7, 6 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Anaheim Bullfrogs | 7, 8 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Los Angeles Blades | 5, 4 | ||||||||||||