The New Jersey Rockin' Rollers were a professional roller hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States that played in

Roller Hockey International Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey. History League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in th ...

Club formation

Roller hockey in the Garden State almost never happened, as the NHL's New Jersey Devils sued to prevent the team from playing in the

Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor arena facility located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The arena is located on N ...

as part of a lease signed with the

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) is an independent authority established by the State of New Jersey in 1971 to oversee the Meadowlands Sports Complex, but which now contains the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, a regulatory ...

. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Reginald Stanton ruled in April 1994 that the essential difference between ice hockey and roller hockey meant that the tenancy of the Rockin' Rollers did not violate the terms of the Devils' lease at the facility.Good, Philip
"Roller Hockey Team Finds a Home"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', April 10, 1994. Accessed January 23, 2017. WINTER seems to have finally faded away and the New Jersey Devils' season will soon be over, depending of course on how the team fares in the playoffs. That means in-line wheeled skates will replace ice hockey skates in the Brendan T. Byrne Meadowlands Arena as the New Jersey Rockin Rollers join the Roller Hockey International League as a new team this summer." The Rockin' Rollers were owned by investment banker E. Burke Ross Jr. Two radio stations also owned by Ross,

WDHA-FM WDHA-FM (105.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Dover, New Jersey, and serving the Morris County area of North Jersey. WDHA is owned and operated by Beasley Broadcast Group and airs a mainstream rock radio format. The station's ...

and WMTR-AM, held a name-the-team contest and "Rockin' Rollers" was chosen (beating out "Skunks" and "Swamp Rats"). The Rollers offered season tickets for as little as $55 for the full 11-game season and single-game tickets as low as $7, with entertainment and promotions at each game. The team brought in $540,000 in ticket revenue in the 1994 season.

Nick Fotiu Nicholas Evlampios Fotiu (born May 25, 1952) is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the World Hockey Association and National Hockey League between 1974 and 1988. Playing career Fotiu's father was of Greek descent, ...

, a former player with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

and then-coach of the

Nashville Knights Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

of the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

, was chosen as the team's coach and general manager. (The 41-year-old would also suit up for two contests, scoring no points but accruing six penalty minutes.)

1994 season

At the 1994 RHI player draft, held in February, the Rockin' Rollers selected identical twins

Chris Ferraro Christopher M. Ferraro (born January 24, 1973) is an American retired ice hockey player who formerly played in the National Hockey League. Along with his twin brother, Peter, became the second set of identical twins to play on the same NHL team: ...

and

Peter Ferraro Peter Joseph Ferraro (born January 24, 1973) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He and his twin brother Chris became the second set of identical twins to play on the same NHL tea ...

(both of whom signed with the

instead), and inked female goaltender Manon Rhéaume; open tryouts were held at the South Mountain Arena in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.

. The inaugural team included starting goalie

Daniel Berthiaume Daniel J. Berthiaume (born January 26, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, and ...

and left wing

Iain Duncan Iain C. Duncan (born August 4, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Early life Duncan was born in Toronto, Ontario. He played for the Bowling Green State University Falcons for four years, being named to their "all-centur ...

, both of whom had NHL experience, as well as minor league star

Trevor Jobe Trevor Jobe (born May 14, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He last played for the Winston-Salem Polar Twins of the Southern Professional Hockey League in 2005. He is known for being a well-traveled, high scoring forward ...

, who led the team in scoring. New Jersey finished their first season at 11-10-1, good enough for fourth place in the Atlantic Division and a playoff spot; they were swept in the first round by Buffalo. At the box office, the Rockin' Rollers averaged 6,984 per match, third-best in 24-team RHI. The club made history in July as both the Rollers and their opponent, the Pittsburgh Phantoms, started female goaltenders; Rhéaume faced Pittsburgh's

Erin Whitten Erin Hamlen (born October 26, 1971) is an American retired ice hockey goaltender and the current head coach of the Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. She was among the first ...

, winning 10–7.

1995 season

The RHI contracted to 19 teams in 1995. Led by top scorers Chris Valicevic and Gerry St. Cyr (who would later marry Manon Rhéaume), New Jersey (now coached by Jim Hughes) moved up to third place in the Atlantic with a 13-11-0 record. They knocked out Minnesota in the opening round of the playoffs but lost to the St. Louis Vipers in the conference semifinals, two games to one. At the gate, attendance slumped to 5,409 per game, but that was second-best in the RHI (a distant second; Anaheim drew 10,038. Most league clubs were drawing only three to four thousand by this point).

1996 season

With a largely turned-over roster (their top scorer, Cal Ingraham, was traded to the

Orlando Jackals The Orlando Jackals were a professional roller hockey team based in Orlando, Florida, United States that played in Roller Hockey International. History The Edmonton Sled Dogs were established in Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capit ...

late in the season), the Rollers slipped to 7-17-0-4, last place in the Atlantic and out of the playoffs. Attendance continued to be reasonable by pro roller-hockey standards: 5,992 per game, fifth out of 18 clubs. Coach Hughes was let go, and replaced by Bob Antolos.

1997 season

The RHI continued to shed clubs in 1997, dropping to just ten teams, including New Jersey. Minor-league sniper Tony Szabo (playing for his fourth RHI team in four seasons) led the Rockin' Rollers with 30 goals and 51 points, and New Jersey placed second in the Eastern Division at 16-8-0; attendance slipped to 4,874 per game, still fourth-best in the league. After dispatching the

Montreal Roadrunners The Montreal Roadrunners played from 1994 to 1997 in the Roller Hockey International. Their home games were at the Montreal Forum (1994–1996) and the Molson Centre (1996–1997). They were finalists for the Murphy Cup in 1995. Former Montreal ...

and league-leading (and defending champion) Orlando in the playoffs, the Rollers advanced to the Murphy Cup Finals against the perennial powerhouse Anaheim Bullfrogs. But after winning the opener of the best-of-three series in California, the Bullfrogs dropped New Jersey, 9–5, at the Meadowlands to claim the Cup."Results Plus: New Jersey Falls in Final"
''

'', September 1, 1997. Accessed January 23, 2017. "The Anaheim Bullfrogs beat the New Jersey Rockin Rollers, 9–5, last night in East Rutherford, N.J., to complete a two-game sweep of Roller Hockey International's Murphy Cup."

The end

The Cup Final was the last game the Rockin' Rollers would ever play, as the team suspended operations after the 1997 season. RHI did not operate during 1998, but returned in 1999. The Rockin' Rollers renamed themselves the ''New York/New Jersey Rockin' Rollers'' and planned to move to Morristown, New Jersey and New York City, but folded before the 1999 season began.

References

{{Reflist, 30em East Rutherford, New Jersey Sports teams in New Jersey Sports in East Rutherford, New Jersey 1994 establishments in New Jersey 1999 disestablishments in New Jersey Roller Hockey International teams Sports clubs established in 1994 Sports clubs disestablished in 1999