Being that this is the 20th season of the Anaheim Ducks existence I thought it might be relevant to take a look back at another Anaheim hockey team that got its start at around the same time, the Anaheim Bullfrogs of the now defunct Roller Hockey International.
When I moved out to the left coast the first time there was not much going on, well except that some guy named Wayne had just been traded to some team that plays hockey in Southern California. This led to a hockey boom in California. The next few years saw a rapid growth in the sports popularity and at the same time the inline skate was born and it too grew in popularity. This combination of events led to a roller hockey boom in neighborhoods and parking garages all across Orange County and other areas.
Once it was decided that Anaheim would be given an NHL franchise it seemed like a natural fit for the newly formed RHI to put a team of it's own there. In 1993 the Bulldogs played their first game at Anaheim Arena, but a year later they took up residence in their brand new home at Arrowhead Pond.
LA Blades and Anaheim Bullfrogs rivalry...
The team was successful by RHI standards. The attendance was among the highest in the league. It didn't hurt that the team was a winner right from the start. Anaheim was the RHI's first ever champion, taking home the Murphy Cup in 1993. The Frogs compiled an overall record of 109-28-7 with two Murphy Cup Title and four Finals appearances during their existence.
The team featured the likes of (from Wiki) Rob Laurie (goaltender), Victor Gervais, Joe Cook, Hugo Belanger, Mark Wolf, B.J. MacPherson, Todd Wetzel, Darren Perkins, Rick Judson, Tom Menicci, Jim Ficenec, Kevin Kerr, Daniel Shank, Derek Booth, Rick Judson, Darren Banks & Savo Mitrovic ans so on.
In the first season alone the Bullfrogs drew over 92,000 fans in 11 home games, an average of 8,366 fans per game. That was more than double the 41,211 the team in St. Louis drew. By 1999 the attendance was abyssal. In 13 homes games the Frogs were drawing less than 3600 fans per game. Sadly that was good enough for second in league attendance behind San Jose's 4131 per game.
The shaky league folded in 1998, but the Bullfrogs and the Buffalo Wings lived to skate again in a newly formed Major League Roller League until 1999. This too died off quickly with the league and it's team playing their last games that season before cancelling the 2000 season and officially folding in 2001.
That would not be the last we'd hear of the Anaheim Bullfrogs. The club has made several comebacks in different leagues and were even holding tryouts up until a year ago for a revamped MLRH league.
(Not sure what happened with that.)
In reality nothing could compare to the early days of the RHI and the heyday of roller hockey. Today the So Cal area is full of ice rinks and many kids are taking to the frozen rinks instead of the sport court of a roller hockey rink. Still, most get their start of a pair of inline skates, just ask Emerson Etem. The local kid was an inline star before making the jump to ice. Seems to have worked out well for him and the Ducks.
How many of you went to an RHI game? Do any of you know what the RHI is? How many of you were alive when the RHI existed? Inquiring minds want to know....sort of.
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