RHI Misses Its Deadline to Pay Overdue Playoff Bonuses

The deadline to pay playoff bonuses to Roller Hockey International players passed Thursday without the six owners, who had imposed the deadline on league CEO Larry King this week, meeting to decide their next course of action.

Meanwhile, King said Friday he has signed final documents for a loan to cover the $151,050 in playoff bonuses and was confident players would be paid next week. “We haven’t solved our cash flow problem yet,” King said. “We’re waiting for the loan to go through. . . . If we get the money Monday, the checks will be in the mail Tuesday.”

Each Bullfrog player was supposed to receive about $4,000 for winning the Murphy Cup championship, but King says the league is broke because he used $330,000 of its funds, including money set aside for playoff bonuses, to keep in operation the financially strapped Ottawa franchise.

An owners committee that includes six of the league’s eight team owners is expected to meet this weekend to decide what to do if the loan falls through, Bullfrog owner Maury Silver said.

“King claims to have the loan done, but we can’t go too far beyond next week waiting to see,” Silver said. “If this is another stall on his part, that will surface and we will have to do something about that.”

By not paying the bonuses in a timely fashion, King has hurt credibility with players, making it unlikely that many RHI stars will return to the league next season, Silver said. “The players must get paid,” Silver said.

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Point guard Chris McMillian of Brea Olinda has committed to play basketball at Wyoming, Brea Coach Gene Lloyd said Friday.

McMillian averaged 17 points and 7.5 assists as a junior at Brea and was named one of the top-20 players during the summer West Coast All-Star camp.