Los Angeles Blades

Los Angeles Blades
Los Angeles Blades
City	Inglewood, California
Founded	1993
Folded	1997
Home arena	Great Western Forum
Colors	Dark Blue, Black, Silver, White;
Murphy Cups	None
Conference Championships	None
Division Championships	1994
Owner(s)	Jeanie Buss
Franchise history
	Los Angeles Blades; (1993–1997)

The Los Angeles Blades were a professional inline hockey team based in Los Angeles, California.^[1] The Blades played in Roller Hockey International from 1993–1997 and played their home games at the Great Western Forum.^[2]

Two other franchises have used the name Los Angeles Blades: the Pacific Hockey League team in 1978–79 and the Western Hockey League team from 1961 to 1967.

Franchise history

The Blades were one of 12 original RHI teams and were owned by Jeanie Buss, daughter of then-Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss.^[3] They played a summer schedule at the Great Western Forum, which was then the home of the NBA's Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. The Blades posted winning records in four of the five seasons it operated, and made the playoffs every year -- unfortunately, they were eliminated all five times by their local rivals, the Anaheim Bullfrogs. RHI suspended operations after the 1997 season, and when it returned in 1999, with eight teams, the Blades were not among them. RHI folded, for good, after the 1999 season.

Season-by-season record

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoff Record
1993	14	8	6	0	16	110	107	224	2nd, Buss	Won Quarterfinal (Toronto), 6–5 Lost Semifinal (Anaheim), 13–4
1994	22	18	4	0	36	180	133	406	1st, Pacific	Won Pacific Semifinal (San Diego), 14–6, 9–8 Lost Pacific Final (Anaheim), 9–6, 9–8
1995	24	9	10	5	23	147	164	458	4th, Pacific	Lost Western Quarterfinal (Anaheim), 8–10, 9–1, 3–0
1996	28	16	11	1	33	160	155	438	2nd, Pacific	Lost Pacific Final (Anaheim), 7–5, 8–4
1997	24	11	8	5	27	166	155	405	3rd, Western	Lost Western Semifinal (Anaheim), 7–2, 2–5, 1–0
RHI Totals	112	63	39	11	135	763	714	1,931

References

^ Barry, Sal (July 11, 2019). "Roller Hockey International: An oral history". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
^ Horrow, Rick; Swatek, Karla (2010). Beyond the Box $core: An Insider's Guide to the $750 Billion Business of Sports. Morgan James Publishing p. 110. ISBN 978-1-6003-7643-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Pucin, Diane (March 3, 2013). "Jerry Buss used team tennis, roller hockey to train his children". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 21, 2020.

[RHI-1] Barry, Sal (July 11, 2019). "Roller Hockey International: An oral history". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 21, 2020.

[Horrow_&_Swatek-2] Horrow, Rick; Swatek, Karla (2010). Beyond the Box $core: An Insider's Guide to the $750 Billion Business of Sports. Morgan James Publishing p. 110. ISBN 978-1-6003-7643-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Buss-3] Pucin, Diane (March 3, 2013). "Jerry Buss used team tennis, roller hockey to train his children". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 21, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]