The eighth and final franchise to be granted for the 1991 inaugural season was the Atlanta Soda Jerks. Owned by the Turner Broadcasting conglomerate, the Jerks will play their home games at the Omni Coliseum.




1991 Soda Jerks Roster

FORWARDS
60 - (C) Jesse Warner (Vancouver, BC)
43 - (A) Aaron Johnson (Bridgeport, CT)
22 - (A) Drew Martin (Calgary, AB)
82 - Vincent Hamilton (Rochester, NY)
20 - Frederick St. Pierre (Hull, QC)
92 - Aloysius Bergeron (Montreal, QC)
46 - Jerome St. Pierre (Hull, QC)
31 - Stanislav Matousek (Prague, Czechoslovakia)

DEFENSEMEN
57 - Tristan Collins (Ottawa, ON)
73 - Filip Soderberg (Uppsala, Sweden)
1 - Ulf Lundstrom (Stockholm, Sweden)
68 - Urpo Turunen (Helsinki, Finland)

GOALIES
81 - Felix Lefebvre (Quebec City, QC)
29 - Alpi Eskola (Espoo, Finland)

The league poster for the inaugural season:


And the diagram of the floor itself:
Main deviations from ice hockey:
- No blue lines.
- An arc for 2 point goals (Used in real life by Pro Beach Hockey).
- Squares to mark where the goalie can play the puck or ball.
- Four quarters instead of three periods.
- Four on four instead of five on five.
- Fighting still permitted.

Last edited by NeoPrankster (2/28/2020 7:50 pm)

1991 Playoff Schedule

The fourteen game regular season was played with seven games in the month of June and the other seven in July, taking place mostly on Thursday and Friday night as well as Saturday afternoons.

The month of August is dedicated to the playoffs


(1) New York Rhymes vs (4) Miami MerBlades
Game 1 on August 7, 1991 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Game 2 on August 8, 1991 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Game 3 on August 10, 1991 at the Miami Arena
- If necessary -
Game 4 on August 11, 1991 at the Miami Arena
Game 5 on August 13, 1991 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

(2) Los Angeles Action vs (3) Cleveland Moondogs
Game 1 on August 7, 1991 at Great Western Forum
Game 2 on August 8, 1991 at Great Western Forum
Game 3 on August 10, 1991 at Richfield Coliseum
- If necessary -
Game 4 on August 11, 1991 at Richfield Coliseum
Game 5 on August 13, 1991 at Great Western Forum

Wheeler Cup Finals
Game 1 on August 20, 1991
Game 2 on August 21, 1991
Game 3 on August 23, 1991
- If necessary -
Game 4 on August 24, 1991
Game 5 on August 26, 1991

Last edited by NeoPrankster (3/02/2020 1:36 am)

1991 RHL Broadcast Pairings

RHL on Fox
Around this same time, then-active NFL quarterbacks made their broadcasting debuts on USA Network's World League football games. Fox conducted a similar experiment with then-active NHL players Marty McSorley and Rob Ray. Newly retired Ranger and King Tom Laidlaw also joined the Fox TV crew, plus former King Jim Fox.

Studio:
Craig Minervini and Jim Fox

Booth:
Kevin Harlan and Marty McSorley
Rick Jeanneret and Rob Ray
Bill Macdonald and Tom Laidlaw

RHL on TNT
Studio:
Ernie Johnson and Terry Crisp

Booth:
Al Trautwig and Dave Maloney



1991 RHL Wheeler Cup Playoffs

SEMIFINALS (Best of Five)
Semifinal Series A
Game 1
August 5, 1991 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Miami MerBlades 7
New York Rhymes 2

Game 2
August 6, 1991 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Miami MerBlades 2
New York Rhymes 0

Game 3
August 8, 1991 at the Miami Arena
Miami MerBlades 6
New York Rhymes 4

Tied at four in overtime of Game 3, the MerBlades' Daniel Moss attempted a wrist shot that was swatted away by Rhymes goalie Brandon Curtis. Seeing an opening, Miami defenseman Scott Burns fired a shot from beyond the 2 point arc.

Kevin Harlan (RHL on Fox): "Moss with the wrister...deflected by Curtis...Burns...picks up the rebound...shoots....SCORRRRRRRRRRES!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCOTT BURNS SENDS THE MIAMI MERBLADES TO THE WHEELER CUP FINALS!!!!!!!

Semifinal Series B
Game 1
August 6, 1991 at the Great Western Forum
Los Angeles Action 5
Cleveland Moondogs 2

Game 2
August 7, 1991 at the Great Western Forum
Los Angeles Action 6
Cleveland Moondogs 4

Game 3
August 9, 1991 at Richfield Coliseum
Los Angeles Action 3
Cleveland Moondogs 0

Rick Jeanneret (RHL on Fox): "The fans here in Cleveland are no stranger to heartbreak. But to be shut out at home in a playoff game...a game the Moondogs needed to win to extend the series...well, this will definitely sting for a long time..."

WHEELER CUP FINALS
Game 1
August 20, 1991 at the Great Western Forum
Miami MerBlades 11
Los Angeles Action 8

Game 2
August 21, 1991 at the Great Western Forum
Los Angeles Action 6
Miami MerBlades 5

Game 3
August 23, 1991 at the Miami Arena
Miami MerBlades 10
Los Angeles Action 6

Game 4
August 24, 1991 at the Miami Arena
Miami MerBlades 9
Los Angeles Action 3

Kevin Harlan (RHL on Fox): "Miami up by six...the seconds are ticking away....FOUR...THREE...TWO...ONE...IT'S OVER!!! THEY DID IT!!! THE MIAMI MERBLADES HAVE WON THE WHEELER CUP FOR NINETEEN NINETY ONE!!!!!! OH BABY, WHAT A FINISH TO THE RHL'S INAUGURAL SEASON!!!!"

Wheeler Cup MVP: Dominic Scott (Forward; MerBlades)
 

Last edited by NeoPrankster (3/02/2020 11:58 pm)

So far, I really like these uniforms! Keep up the good work.