1996 RHI season

The 1996 RHI season was the 4th season of Roller Hockey International. It began in May 1996, with the regular season ending on August 12, 1996. The Murphy Cup playoffs ended on September 2, with the Orlando Jackals defeating the Anaheim Bullfrogs to win their first Murphy Cup. The Anaheim Bullfrogs hosted the 3rd RHI All-Star Game at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California on July 8, 1996.
==League business==
===Franchise changes===
====Arena changes====
The Montreal Roadrunners, Ottawa Loggers, and Vancouver Voodoo all moved into their cities' new arenas; Molson Centre in Montreal, Corel Centre in Ottawa, and General Motors Place in Vancouver. The Oakland Skates also moved to the Kaiser Convention Center. The New Jersey Rockin Rollers' and Philadelphia Bulldogs' arenas were renamed to the Continental Airlines Arena and CoreStates Spectrum respectively.
====New uniforms====
The Orlando Rollergators were renamed the Orlando Jackals and debuted a new logo and uniforms. The Sacramento River Rats and Vancouver Voodoo both debuted slightly altered uniforms.
====Contraction====
The Chicago Cheetahs folded after two seasons in the league. The Detroit Motor City Mustangs and Minnesota Blue Ox folded after only one season in the league. The Buffalo Stampede folded after their second season, and their roster was picked up by the Empire State Cobras, formerly the Phoenix Cobras.
====Relocation====
The Phoenix Cobras relocated to Glens Falls, New York to become the Empire State Cobras, but the Phoenix Cobras players did not transfer with the franchise. The players went into a supplemental draft, and the Cobras picked up the folded Buffalo Stampede's roster.
====Expansion====
The league added three franchises, including the Denver Daredevils, Long Island Jawz, and the Minnesota Arctic Blast, who were on hiatus for the 1995 season.
===Realignment===
In the Atlantic Division, the Montreal Roadrunners and Ottawa Loggers were moved to the Central Division. The three existing franchises, the New Jersey Rockin Rollers, Orlando Jackals (formerly the Orlando Rollergators), and Philadelphia Bulldogs were joined by the Empire State Cobras, formerly the Phoenix Cobras, and the expansion Long Island Jawz, to bring the total back to five teams.
In the Central Division, the Buffalo Stampede, Chicago Cheetahs, Detroit Motor City Mustangs, and Minnesota Blue Ox all folded before the 1996 season. The only remaining franchise, the St. Louis Vipers, were joined by the Montreal Roadrunners and Ottawa Loggers from the Atlantic, and the newly reformed Minnesota Arctic Blast, lowering the division's teams to four.
The Northwest Division was the only division to remain the same from the 1995 season.
In the Pacific Division, the Empire State Cobras, formerly the Phoenix Cobras, were moved to the Atlantic Division. The remaining four teams, the Anaheim Bullfrogs, Los Angeles Blades, Oklahoma Coyotes, and San Diego Barracudas were joined by the expansion Denver Daredevils to bring the total number of teams back to five. 
===Season schedule===
RHI again increased its regular season schedule from 24 to 28 games per team.
==Regular season==
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division 	GP	W 	L 	SOL	GF 	GA 	PIM	Pts
Empire State Cobras (2) 	28	16	7 	5 	202	168	462	37
Orlando Jackals (3) 	28	17	9 	2 	231	201	448	36
Long Island Jawz 	28	16	9 	3 	246	211	513	35
Philadelphia Bulldogs 	28	16	9 	3 	202	199	570	35
New Jersey Rockin Rollers	28	7 	17	4 	167	227	374	18
Central Division 	GP	W 	L 	SOL	GF 	GA 	PIM	Pts
Minnesota Arctic Blast (1)	28	22	6 	0 	246	200	370	44
St. Louis Vipers (4) 	28	15	12	1 	207	209	520	31
Montreal Roadrunners 	28	14	11	3 	177	174	463	31
Ottawa Loggers 	28	3 	22	3 	174	263	463	9
Western Conference
Northwest Division 	GP	W 	L 	SOL	GF 	GA 	PIM	Pts
Vancouver Voodoo (2) 	28	18	7 	3 	217	162	665	39
Oakland Skates (3) 	28	15	11	2 	187	181	456	32
San Jose Rhinos 	28	15	12	1 	189	180	764	31
Sacramento River Rats	28	10	17	1 	185	229	456	21
Pacific Division 	GP	W 	L 	SOL	GF 	GA 	PIM	Pts
Anaheim Bullfrogs (1) 	28	22	4 	2 	215	159	495	46
Los Angeles Blades (4)	28	16	11	1 	160	155	438	33
Oklahoma Coyotes 	28	13	12	3 	174	174	524	29
San Diego Barracudas 	28	9 	18	1 	183	233	553	19
Denver Daredevils 	28	8 	17	3 	173	210	467	19
====Tiebreaking procedures====
If two or more clubs are tied in points during the regular season, the ranking of the clubs is determined in the following order:
#The fewer number of games played.
#The greater number of games won.
#The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing.
#The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season.
#The fewer number of goals against.
===Statistical leaders===
====Scoring leaders====
Player 	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	
Hugo Belanger 	Long Island Jawz 	25	48	53	101	+29	6
Doug Ast 	Vancouver Voodoo 	28	50	41	91 	+25	32
Gerry St. Cyr 	Sacramento River Rats 	28	48	41	89 	+9 	37
Cory Laylin 	Minnesota Arctic Blast	28	42	47	89 	+15	16
Mark Woolf 	San Jose Rhinos 	27	32	53	85 	+24	25
Vincent Giannone 	Empire State Cobras 	25	21	63	84 	+12	62
Victor Gervais 	Anaheim Bullfrogs 	25	29	55	84 	+21	58
Daniel Shank 	Orlando Jackals 	28	31	50	81 	+15	52
Christian Skoryna	St. Louis Vipers 	28	36	44	80 	+8 	38
John Young 	Minnesota Arctic Blast	28	24	55	79 	+10	32
 
====Leading goaltenders====
Player 	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Jeff Ferguson 	Los Angeles Blades 	16	606:56	10	3	0	61 	0	.877	4.82
Eric Raymond 	Anaheim Bullfrogs 	9 	418:41	7 	2	0	44 	0	.848	5.04
Scott Humphrey	Vancouver Voodoo 	17	691:30	10	3	2	78 	0	.871	5.41
Bill Horn 	Orlando Jackals 	11	480:51	8 	2	0	56 	0	.843	5.59
Nick Vitucci 	Empire State Cobras	15	717:07	10	2	3	85 	0	.846	5.69
David Goverde 	Empire State Cobras	13	622:05	6 	5	2	74 	0	.866	5.71
Pat Mazzoli 	Long Island Jawz 	8 	374:52	4 	1	2	45 	0	.835	5.76
Rob Laurie 	Anaheim Bullfrogs 	21	922:18	15	2	2	112	0	.839	5.83
Bob Bell 	Vancouver Voodoo 	13	600:42	8 	3	1	73 	0	.832	5.83
Grant Sjerven 	San Jose Rhinos 	10	382:59	4 	3	1	47 	0	.834	5.89
==Playoffs==
Category:Roller Hockey International