The Vancouver VooDoo were an

inline hockey Roller inline hockey, or inline hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. The sport ...

team based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, which 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 the ...

(RHI). The VooDoo were one of the original 12 teams to join the league in 1993. Founded and owned by

Tiger Williams David James "Tiger" Williams (born February 3, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from the 1974–75 NHL season to the 1987–88 NHL season. He is the NHL's career leader in ...

and Bill McMenamon, the team played in the

PNE Agrodome PNE Agrodome is a sports arena located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was built in 1963 and holds 5,000 people or 3,260 when configured to use the hockey or lacrosse surface. It annually hosted the provincial high school boys' 'AAA' basketb ...

in 1993 and 1994, the

Pacific Coliseum Pacific Coliseum, known to locals as "The Coliseum" or the "Rink on Renfrew," is an indoor arena located at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its main use has been for ice hockey and the arena has been the home for several ice hocke ...

in 1995. In 1996, the team played in

General Motors Place Rogers Arena is a multi-purpose arena located at 800 Griffiths Way in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, the arena was known as General Motors Place (GM Place) from its opening until July 6, 2010, when G ...

after being sold to Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, but folded in 1996.

Season by season

The Voodoo experienced consistent success in the regular season throughout their four-year history, winning their division all four years. Despite their regular season success, however, the Voodoo never made it out of the second round of the playoffs.

1993

In the RHI's inaugural season, Vancouver finished first in the King Division, atop the

Calgary Rad'z The Calgary Rad'z were a professional inline hockey team that played two seasons in the Roller Hockey International in 1993 and 1994. The Rad'z were a founding member of the RHI. The Rad'z began play in the Olympic Saddledome, but moved to the ...

, Portland Rage, and Utah Rollerbees, good for second overall, behind the Anaheim Bullfrogs. In the first round of the playoffs, they were eliminated by the division rival

8-7. Star forward Jose Charbonneau, a former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

er, led the RHI in regular season scoring with 68 points in 14 games. He attracted the attention of the NHL's

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

, who resigned him, despite having previously released Charbonneau in 1989. Charbonneau went on to play 33 more games for the Canucks before finishing his career in Europe. Team co-owner and head coach

, who holds the NHL career mark for penalty minutes, played in one game for the Voodoo and registered two points, with a goal and an assist, plus two penalty minutes. Playing at the

, the Voodoo's average attendance was 3,800.

1994

As league expansion doubles the league's team total to 24, the Voodoo are placed in the new Northwest Division with the

, Phoenix Cobras, Portland Rage, Edmonton Sled Dogs, and Sacramento River Rats. They finish atop their division, as well as second overall in the Western Conference, behind the

Los Angeles Blades The Los Angeles Blades were a professional inline hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. The Blades played in Roller Hockey International from 1993–1997 and played their home games at the Great Western Forum. Two other franchises have us ...

. The Voodoo's leading scorer was Ryan Harrison, who finished with 62 points in 22 games, good for 15th overall in the league. In the playoffs, the Voodoo were once again defeated in the first round, ousted by Portland in two games; the VooDoo lost the first game in an 8-7 shootout at Portland before being eliminated in game two in Vancouver by a score of 14-8. The Voodoo's average attendance rises to 4,600 as they begin playing games at the

– in close vicinity to the

– as well.

1995

The Voodoo finish atop their division and second in their conference for the third straight season. Ryan Harrison leads Vancouver in scoring again with 63 points in 24 games, 15th overall in the league once more. In the playoffs, Vancouver makes it out of the first round for the first time, defeating the

Oakland Skates The Oakland Skates were a professional roller hockey team and were a member team in Roller Hockey International (RHI) from 1993 through 1996. In 1993 the Skates were a finalist for the RHI league championship, named the Murphy Cup, for one of the ...

by a score of 10-4. The playoff bid was halted in the second round by the

San Jose Rhinos The San Jose Rhinos were an inline hockey team in Roller Hockey International from 1994-97 and 1999 (the RHI did not operate in 1998). In its second year, the team won the Murphy Cup with a victory over the Montreal Roadrunners The Montreal Roa ...

, the inevitable Murphy Cup champions. As the Voodoo fully relocated to the

, their average attendance rose again to nearly 5,300, third-highest in the league.

1996

The Voodoo relocated again to the

' home stadium

, and the average attendance peaks at 5,500. Vancouver's Doug Ast finished second overall in the league in regular season scoring with 91 points in 28 games. Vancouver won their division for the fourth consecutive season, but are eliminated in the second round in three games by the Anaheim Bullfrogs. At the end of the 1996 season, the Vancouver Voodoo franchise folded after four years.

Regular season records

For the four seasons played by the VooDoo, the team's regular season records were:Vancouver Voodoo Statistics and History
HockeyDb.com. Accessed February 1, 2017.

External links

RHI Season Archives

References

{{Reflist, 30em Roller Hockey International teams

Voo VOO (/vuː/) is the commercial name of the Belgian cable company, created by the Economic Interest Group ( EIG) of Brutélé GIE in (Brussels Region and Charleroi Region) and Association Liégeoise d'Electricité (A.L.E.- Télédis), currentl ...

Sports clubs established in 1993 Sports clubs disestablished in 1996 1993 establishments in British Columbia 1996 disestablishments in British Columbia