Roanoke Valley Rebels

Roanoke Valley Rebels
Roanoke Valley Rebels
City	Salem/Roanoke, Virginia
League	EHL (1967–1973); SHL (1973–1976)
Operated	1967–1976
Home arena	Salem Civic Center (1967–1976); Roanoke Civic Center (1971–1976)
Colors	Blue, red, white;
Affiliates	NHL (1971–1972); WHA (1972–1976)
Franchise history
1967–1970	Salem Rebels
1970–1976	Roanoke Valley Rebels
Championships
Playoff championships	1973–74 (SHL)

The Roanoke Valley Rebels were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Roanoke Valley in Virginia. The team first played in the Eastern Hockey League and then joined the Southern Hockey League. The team was originally known as the Salem Rebels from 1967 to 1970, playing at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.^[1] In 1971, the Rebels began splitting home games between Salem at the newer and larger Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke.^[2]^[3]

The team name recalled Johnny Reb, a national personification of the Southern United States. The team logo was the Battle Flag of the Confederate States of America cut in the shape of a maple leaf. The Rebels were founding members of the Southern Hockey League in 1973 after the Eastern Hockey League ceased operations, and won the James Crockett Cup in 1974.^[4] After nine seasons of play, the team ceased operations in 1976.^[5]

History

The first Salem Rebels game was played October 24, 1967, and Salem won 3–1 over the Jacksonville Rockets.^[3] Most of the players lived in a mobile home park across, near the Lakeside Amusement Park.^[3] Dave Lucas was coach the team's first coach, but struggled for the first two seasons and missed the playoffs both years.^[1] Colin Kilburn was brought in to coach in 1969, and improved the team to second place in the southern division, but lost in the first round of the playoffs.^[1] Kilburn coached the next two seasons to third place finishes, and first round playoff losses.^[2] The Rebels affiliated with the Philadelphia Blazers in 1972 and the parent club assigned Gregg Pilling to coach. The Rebels finished first place in the southern division, won two playoff series, and finished runners-up in the 1973 EHL finals.^[2]

In 1973, the Rebels became a charter team in the Southern Hockey League due to travel costs to the multiple northern teams in the EHL for the 1973–74 season. Pilling stayed on as coach and the team roster featured eleven French Canadians, including the league's most valuable player, Claude Piche.^[3] The Rebels finished first place in the regular season, and won the James Crocket Cup in the playoffs.^[5] Pilling was named the SHL Coach of the Year for 1973–74.^[3] Bill Needham coached the 1974–75 season, and the team dropped to fourth place and a first round playoff loss.

Team operator and league commissioner, Gene Hawthorne, filed for bankruptcy protection for the team July 14, 1975,^[6] and the Rebels were obtained by local oil distributor, Henry Brabham. Player-coach Jack Chipchase led the Rebels in the 1975–76 season, finishing fourth place, and a first round playoff loss. The Rebels ceased operations after the season.^[5] Salem eventually got another team in the Salem Raiders of the restarted Eastern Hockey League in 1980 and the Rebels branding was revived for an East Coast Hockey League team from 1990 to 1992.

Major league affiliations

The Rebels were affiliated with the National Hockey League in the 1971–72 season, and with the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976.^[7]^[8]

Years	Affiliations
1971–72	Philadelphia Flyers
1972–73	Philadelphia Blazers
1973–74	Vancouver Blazers
1974–75	Houston Aeros, Winnipeg Jets
1975–76	Calgary Cowboys, San Diego Mariners, Winnipeg Jets

Notable players

Notable players for the Salem Rebels (EHL 1967–1970),^[9] the Roanoke Valley Rebels (EHL 1970–1973),^[10] and the Roanoke Valley Rebels (SHL 1973–1977),^[11] who also played in either the National Hockey League or the World Hockey Association.

Results

As recorded in the Internet Hockey Database:^[1]^[2]^[5]

Season	Lge	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Pct	GF	GA	PIM	Standing	Playoffs
1967–68	EHL	72	11	53	8	30	0.208	211	432	880	6th, Southern	Did not qualify
1968–69	EHL	72	24	45	3	51	0.354	240	321	786	5th, Southern	Did not qualify
1969–70	EHL	74	37	27	10	84	0.568	279	266	1272	2nd, Southern	Lost in round 1
1970–71	EHL	74	31	34	9	71	0.480	257	303	1071	3rd, Southern	Lost in round 1
1971–72	EHL	73	30	33	10	70	0.479	241	266	968	3rd, Southern	Lost in round 1
1972–73	EHL	76	40	25	11	91	0.599	345	276	1629	1st, Southern	Lost in finals
1973–74	SHL	72	53	19	0	106	0.736	366	244	1458	1st, SHL	Won championship
1974–75	SHL	72	29	41	2	60	0.417	296	304	1037	4th, SHL	Lost in round 1
1975–76	SHL	72	29	28	15	73	0.507	239	238	1224	4th, SHL	Lost in round 1
TOTALS	EHL	441	173	217	51	397	0.450	1573	1864	6606	1 division title	1 runner-up
TOTALS	SHL	216	111	88	17	239	0.553	901	786	3719	1 league title	1 championship