World Roller Hockey League (video)

[TULaw]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=940v-iudCOA

Wow, gotta love the shinguards lol.

[RichardGraham]

I've written a chapter about this league in my upcoming book, "Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks: A Rocking History of Roller Hockey International." It should be published within two or three months, as both an ebook and for print on demand.

[TULaw]

Richard,

I am excited to hear your book will be coming out soon, I look forward to purchasing a copy.

[Sinister Soup]

is it just me our do these team look bad. i realize that they are ex NHL players and such but they look so awkward on their skates that i think some of our top roller hockey teams today could beat these teams.

[RichardGraham]

Hi TULaw,

Thanks very much for your interest. I appreciate it.

I've had some setbacks (including lawsuit threats over a specific chapter) and it's taken longer that I'd hoped to get it ready for publication. I'm really proud of it, however, and I think that people in the industry (except for a few bad guys) will be impressed, and I hope that it has enough human interest in it (funny stories about and from the players, executives, referees, etc., who participated in RHI in one form or another) to interest a large section of the general public who like niche sports.

Many of the stories in the book are hilarious or surprising or both, and I can't wait to hear what people think about it when it's finally out there.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Sinister Soup,

For some of the players, it was their first experience with inline skates or skates with wheels. Eventually, in most cases, however, the players' familiarity with checking and other aspects of pro hockey really benefited them in the long run.

[minutemen]

Sinister Soup,

The skates back then were awful. The boots are not of the quality we have today and the wheels were probably for concrete and not sport court.

[bigjnstl]

I remember watching this when they originally showed it. That was the first time I ever saw roller hockey. I got hooked and would watch it everyday all summer long. Richard would you know where you could find rosters from this league? My favorite team was the Blast.

As far as the equipment, Franklin hockey was the major sponsor, so the players were required to wear those ridiculous shin guards.

[RichardGraham]

Hi bigjnstl,

I don't have all the rosters, but here are some of the players and coaches who participated, and who are mentioned in my book. (The Koho Hosers left the event early and became the Express.) There are some WRHL videos on the Internet which name some of the other players.

San Diego Koho Hosers’ captain Jim Hatch
Pat Brisson, Express
Rich Garvey, Express
Daryn Goodwin
Ron Duguay, Express
Scott Rupp
Myles Hart
Stephane Desjardins, Express
Jason Maxwell, Express
Eric Le Marque, Express
David McLane, WRHL Founder
Pierre Larouche, WRHL Commissioner
Ron Beilsten, Coach, The Blast
Paul Chapey, Consultant

[Doug Jones]

Roh Bhala
Jeff Furlong
Kurt Walstein
Scott Zwygart
several players from the Fresno Falcons
There were also several players from the California Hawks and LA Jets who played as well