Major League Roller Hockey
 Major League Roller Hockey logo | |
| Sport | Inline hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| CEO | William Raue |
| Motto | "Too Hot For Ice" |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country |  Canada Czech Republic United Kingdom United States |
| Most recent champion(s) | Maryland Crush |
| TV partner(s) | B2 |
| Official website | www.mlrh.com |
Major League Roller Hockey (MLRH) is a professional inline hockey league in North America. It is currently the only professional full contact inline hockey league in the world. The Jason Cup, formerly called the Elite Sports Group Cup, is awarded to the league champion at the end of each professional season. The league also operates tournaments such as the Euro Cup and MLRH Pro Tour under the MLRH banner.
The league was founded in 1998 in Alexandria, Virginia with fourteen teams based in North America and six located in the United Kingdom, and through a series of expansions, contractions and relocations, the league will now be composed of 8 teams based in the United States. After it's initial season of "professional" status, MLRH served as an amateur inline hockey league in the United States. The league announced that a pro MLRH season format will return summer 2009. The 2008 MLRH Euro Cup tournament is scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C. from July 18 through July 20, 2008.
History
Major League Roller Hockey (MLRH) was founded in 1996 as a viable alternative to the bloated operating budgets of rival league Roller Hockey International (RHI). For the first two years it operated under "amateur" status.
With the struggling RHI, MLRH saw an opportunity to move to the professional level. On January 10, Bill Raue, Publisher of SK8 Magazine, assumed majority ownership of MLRH and moved its headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia. By February 4, MLRH was in the process of stabilizing their divisions for their first season under "professional" status. MLRH took the unique approach in that each team were required to dress four players (out of 14) that lived within 50 miles of the team's home arena. This approach was in an attempt to help build hometown heroes.
It was announced in February, 1998, that the Washington Power, Carolina Copperheads, Pennsylvania Posse, New York Riot, and a team located in New Jersey were in the Atlantic Division and teams were being finalized in Wilmington, Delaware and Boston, Massachusetts. The Oshawa Outlaws and San Antonio River Rats were confirmed. MLRH held two try-out camps in the spring of 1998 with results of the camps being distributed to all of the clubs. The first was at the Hat Trick Arena in Denton, Texas in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and the second at Water City Roller Hockey in Marina, California near Monterey, California.
The Pennsylvania Posse added legitimacy to the new league when owner Charlie Yoder announced that his sons, CJ and Jamie Yoder, who both played in RHI in 1997 with the St. Louis Vipers, were going to play for the Posse in 1998. The Posse also signed veteran Mitch Lamoureux, who was head coach of the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL), to a coaching position for the 1998 season. They also announced that the club would play their home games at the historic Hershey Park Arena, which has long been the home of the Hershey Bears of the AHL.
The league also announced they were establishing teams in its United Kingdom division. Cities said to be represented included Brighton, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Guildford, Swindon, Peterborough, Southend (Essex), and Derby.
Game
Each Major League Roller Hockey regulation game is an inline hockey game played between two teams and is 48 minutes long. The game is composed of four 12-minute quarters with an intermission of 2 minutes between the first and second quarters, and the third and fourth quarters, with a halftime of 15 minutes between the second and third quarters. At the end of the 48-minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues. During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, four-player on four-player sudden death period, in which the first team to score a goal wins the game. If the game is still tied at the end of overtime, the game enter a shootout. Four players for each team in turn take a penalty shot. The team with the most goals during the four-round shootout wins the game. If the game is still tied after the four shootout rounds, the shootout continues but becomes sudden death. Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a goal in the game score and thus awarded two points in the standings. The losing team in overtime or shootout is awarded only one. Shootout goals and saves are not tracked in hockey statistics; shootout statistics are tracked separately.
Pro Teams
| Division | Team | City/Area | Arena | Capacity | Joined MLRH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Franchises | ||||||
| Washington Power | Laurel, Maryland | Gardens Ice House | 3,000 | 2008 | ||
| Boston Storm | Boston, Massachusetts | TBA | TBA | 2008 | ||
| European Franchises | ||||||
| Dynamo Pardubice | Pardubice, Czech Republic | 2008 | ||||
| Leicester Dragons | Leicester, England | 2008 | ||||
Pro Possible Expansion
- Buffalo Wings
Season structure
Euro Cup
Notable players
Hockey rink
Rules
Trophies and awards
MLRH Champions
MLRH Jason Cup, formerly the Elite Sports Group Cup, is awarded to annual playoff championship. The past winners are:
- 2007 - Maryland Cruch
- 2005 - New York Rockers
- 2004 - Marple Gladiators
- 2003 - Marple Gladiators
- 2002 - Williamsburgh Warriors
- 2001 - Colorado Crush
- 2000 - Rockey Mountain Wolverines
- 1998 - Anaheim Bullfrogs
Notable Players
- Mark Wolfe (Anaheim Bullfrogs)
- Rob Laurie (Anaheim Bullfrogs)
- Jason Sessa (New York Rockers)
- Kory Karlander (Columbus Hawks)
- C.J. Yoder (Pennsylvania Posse)
- Jami Yoder (Pennsylvania Posse)
- Hugo Belanger (Virginia Vultures)
- Kevin Kerr (Virginia Vultures)