Skip to main content

Roanoke Valley Rebels (1970-71, EHL)

1970-71 Regular Season
Rebels vs. Charlotte Checkers
     The Roanoke Valley Rebels were members of the Eastern Hockey League. They began as the Salem Rebels in 1968, but relocated to Roanoke, VA, after the Roanoke Valley Civic Center was opened in time for the 1970-71 season.
     Colin Kilburn was named Rebels head coach in 1969 and was behind the bench for 1970-71 as well. Kilburn's Rebs went 31-34-9, good enough for third place in the Southern Division. Their 71 points were 14 points ahead of the Nashville Dixie Flyers, but a whopping 46 behind first place Charlotte, the opponent for this program.
     Roanoke scored the third-fewest goals that season, with a paltry 257--only Clinton and Jacksonville scored less. Dave Parenteau led the Rebel attack, potting 30 goals and 87 points. Late-season pickup Dale MacLeish scored 41 goals with three different teams that season. Three other Rebels scored at least 20.
     Roanoke struggled keeping the puck out of the net that year, allowing 303 red lights to flash. The team employed two goaltenders that year: Jim Letcher and Bill Woodyatt. Letcher worked the lion's-share of games in 1970-71.
     The Rebels made it to the EHL Playoffs that season and faced the Greensboro Generals in Round One. The Rebels didn't last too long, as the Generals advanced in five games (best-of-seven). Charlotte would win the league championship over New Haven.
     This program has 36 pages, all black and white. Roanoke, Virginia, is not the first town you think of when you think of "hockey cities", but it actually has a fairly long hockey tradition. There's are articles about the coach, the history of the franchise and the history of the sport. There's also a section called "Hockey Vocabulary", which defines the terms used in the sport. Local advertisements include Billy Budd Restaurants, Frontier Restaurant and WFIR 960 AM.

Aftermath: After the EHL folded in 1972-73, the Rebels joined the southern-based teams in forming the Southern Hockey League. The franchise folded after the 1975-76 season. A new Rebels franchise would join the ECHL in 1990, change their name to first Rampage then Express, before folding in 2004. The Port Huron Beacons of the UHL would attempt to fill the void the Express left, but were a disaster on and off the ice, folding in 2005. The area has been rumored to be a future expansion site for the Single-A Southern Professional Hockey League. 

References:
Eastern Hockey League Statistics: 1970-71 (from hockeydb.com)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL, 1998-99)

1998-99 Regular Season: Leafs vs. Chicago Blackhawks      1998-99 was a memorable season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Maple Leaf Gardens, the Leafs iconic home for the past 68 years, was closing midway through the year, replaced by the Air Canada Center.      Since it's grand opening in 1931, the Gardens had been home to not only the Leafs, but also pro basketball, pro wrestling, rock concerts, boxing, you name it. It saw the highs of 11 Stanley Cup championships to the nadir of the Harold Ballard era of the 1970s and 1980s. The building had become not just a legendary sports arena, but a Canadian cultural shrine.      The Maple Leafs were coming off two straight disappointing seasons by the time 1998-99 rolled around. The team had slumped after making two straight conference finals in the early 1990s, and missed the playoffs altogether in 1997 and 1998.       Major changes were made for the upco...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chatham Wheels (CoHL, 1993-94)

1993-94 Regular Season Wheels vs. Detroit Falcons      The Chatham Wheels were in their second season of play in the Colonial Hockey League. The team was named after the Wheels Inn, a hotel/indoor amusement complex in town that closed in 2009. The Wheels were owned by a group led by Tom Kirkconnell and played their home games at the 3,300-seat Chatham Memorial Arena.       The Wheels were coming off a last place finish in 1992-93, going 24-32-4, 12 points back of 6th place Flint. Attendance was brutal as well, as the team drew just 1,174 per game to Memorial Arena. Changes were made, as longtime junior coach Tom Barrett was hired as Head Coach/GM and Governor, replacing Ron Caron. Barrett added veteran talent to the roster, including former Flint Spirits John Vecchiarelli and Brett MacDonald, and former St. Thomas Wildcats goaltender Kevin Butt, to go along with holdover Jim Ritchie.      Barrett's moves paid off, as the Wheels surged up...
2 comments
Read more

Port Huron Hockey: Flags/Wings (1962-81)

Now, on to Port Huron.      Port Huron has had a long, yet checkered, history of pro hockey. The most successful franchise, by far, was the Port Huron Flags (also called Wings for a few years) of the IHL. The Flags were, for the most part, a competitve team on the ice, making the Turner Cup Finals seven times and winning the Cup on three occasions. For three years, (1971-74), the franchise was a farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and sent numerous players on to the NHL in it's existence. However, the team had problems drawing big enough crowds. While the Flags lasted for nearly 20 years, former GM Morris Snider later admitted that the franchise could have folded three years before it actually did, due to declining attendance. I've found some Flags/Wings programs online over the years, and here's what I have. 1963-64 Regular Season--Flags vs. Windsor       1963-64 was the second year of existence for the Flags. After missing the...
Post a Comment
Read more