• Source: London Knights

The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their current name in 1968. The Knights have won two Memorial Cup championships.




History






= Early days

=
The London Nationals were granted a franchise in the OHA for the 1965–66 season under the ownership of the London Gardens arena, with the Toronto Maple Leafs controlling the team's players.
After three seasons, direct NHL sponsorship of junior teams ended. The team and Gardens was sold to businessman Howard Darwin for $500,000, who renamed the team to the Knights and changed the colours to green and gold.




= 1968–1986: the Darwin era

=
In 1968, businessman Howard Darwin bought the London Nationals (he also owned the Ottawa 67's) as the era of NHL sponsorship of junior hockey ended. Darwin wanted to give a fresh look to the team, and so held a contest to rename the team.




= 1986–1994: new owners, new dawn

=
In 1986 Howard Darwin sold the Knights and the arena to Paris, Ontario businessmen Jack Robillard, Al Martin and Bob Willson.




= 1994–2000: "Knightmare" and redemption

=
In 1994 the Knights were sold to St. Thomas, Ontario, real estate developer Doug Tarry Sr. He died before the team had played a game under his ownership, and the team was inherited by his son, Doug Tarry Jr. Upon taking command, Tarry carried out further renovations on the Gardens including a name change to the "London Ice House." He also alienated a fair portion of the team's fan base by changing the team's colours from green, gold and black to eggplant and teal, and changing the logo to a cartoon logo instantly and derisively nicknamed "Spiderknight".




= 2000–present: the Hunter era

=
In 2000, former NHL players Dale Hunter, Mark Hunter, and Basil McRae bought the Knights from Doug Tarry Jr.
The 2003–04 OHL season would mark the beginning of a remarkable dynasty. The Knights had the best regular season record in the CHL and set an OHL record with 110 points, but lost the OHL Western Conference final to the Guelph Storm. In the 2004–05 season, the Knights set a new CHL record by going 31 games in a row without a loss (29–0–2).
The Knights finished the season with 120 points (59 wins, 7 losses, 2 ties), breaking their own OHL record set the previous season. In the playoffs, the Knights started by sweeping two best-of-seven series against the Guelph Storm and Windsor Spitfires. In the Western Conference final, the Knights defeated the Kitchener Rangers 4–1 to win the Wayne Gretzky Trophy. In the OHL finals against the Ottawa 67's, the Knights won the series 4–1 to win their first J. Ross Robertson Cup, ending the longest championship drought in the CHL. The London Knights qualified for the 2005 Memorial Cup both as OHL Champion and the tournament host. In the tournament round robin, they defeated the Rimouski Océanic 4–3, the Kelowna Rockets 4–2, and the Ottawa 67's 5–2. This earned the Knights a bye into the championship game in which they defeated Rimouski 4–0 to win their first Memorial Cup. In 2018, the 2004–05 London Knights were named the CHL's "Team of the Century".
Dale Hunter announced on May 14, 2012, he would not return to coach the Capitals in the 2012–13 season, choosing instead to return to the London Knights.
The Knights capped their OHL season with a game seven win over the Barrie Colts as Bo Horvat scored the game-winning goal in the last second of the third period to capture the Knights' second consecutive J. Ross Robertson Cup.
London finished the 2013–14 season third in the OHL with 103 regular season points. However, the only two teams above them were their division opponents, the Guelph Storm and Erie Otters, thus denying the Knights a third straight division title. After sweeping the Windsor Spitfires in the first round the Knights were eliminated by the Storm in five games. Nevertheless, the Knights earned a berth in the 2014 Memorial Cup, their third straight, by virtue of being selected to host the tournament the day after winning the OHL championship the year before.
On October 21, 2014, Mark Hunter resigned as Knights general manager after being appointed director of player personnel for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Knights entered the 2016 Memorial Cup as favourites due to their impressive winning streak and did not disappoint, dominating the round robin and outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 20–5. In the championship game, the Knights faced off against the CHL number-one ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The Huskies pushed the Knights to the limit, carrying a 2–1 lead late into the third period before Christian Dvorak scored with 4:11 remaining to force overtime, where a goal by Matthew Tkachuk earned the Knights their 17th-straight win and second Memorial Cup championship.
On July 6, 2016, McRae stepped down as general manager of the London Knights to become the director of player personnel for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was replaced by former assistant general manager and former assistant coach of the London Knights, Rob Simpson.
The Knights subsequently finished the 2016–17 OHL season third in the Midwest. In the playoffs, they defeated the Windsor Spitfires in seven games before falling to the Erie Otters in seven games in the second round.
Having resigned from his role with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mark Hunter returned as general manager of the London Knights on August 10, 2018, with Rob Simpson returning to his former role as assistant general manager.




Championships



The London Knights have won the Memorial Cup tournament two times, won the J. Ross Robertson Cup five times, won the Western Conference eight times, and have won sixteen division titles.




Awards






= Canadian Hockey League

=




= Ontario Hockey League

=




Coaches


The London Nationals were coached by Jack McIntyre for the 1965–66 season. For their second and third seasons from 1966 to 1968, the Nationals were coached by Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Turk Broda.
London Knights coaches have won the Matt Leyden Trophy, emblematic of the OHL's Coach of the Year, five times. Bill Long won it once, in 1976–77, Gary Agnew twice, in 1992–93 and in 1997–98, and Dale Hunter twice, in 2003–04 and 2004–05. Dale Hunter also won the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award, emblematic of CHL Coach of the Year honours, in 2003–04.
As London Nationals:

1965–1966 — Jack McIntyre
1966–1968 — Turk Broda
As London Knights:

Notes: Mike Fedorko was entering his second season as Knights' coach and GM in the autumn of 1995. He was fired in October 1995 when the Knights began the season with a 13-game losing streak. Assistant Murray Nystrom took over coaching duties temporarily. Tom Barrett, who had led the Kitchener Rangers to the 1984 Memorial Cup, was named head coach in December. Barrett died of cancer in April 1996, shortly after the conclusion of the season. Moe Mantha was originally named the head coach to take over from Barrett, but left to coach the Baltimore Bandits of the American Hockey League before coaching a game. Brad Selwood was ultimately named Barrett's replacement for 1996–97 but was fired mid-season and GM Paul McIntosh took over on an interim basis for the rest of the season. Gary Agnew was rehired at the start of 1997–98.




Players






= NHL or WHA alumni

=
The following is a complete list of London Knights who later played in the National Hockey League or World Hockey Association.

London Nationals

London Knights




= First round picks in NHL or WHA drafts

=
The London Knights have had at least one player drafted in each NHL Entry Draft from 1969 onward.
The following players were selected in the first round of the NHL entry draft:

The following players were selected in the first round of the WHA amateur draft:

Reg Thomas – 1973, 8th overall by the Los Angeles Sharks
Rick Green – 1976, 10th overall by the Quebec Nordiques
Scott Campbell – 1977, 1st overall by the Houston Aeros




= Retired numbers

=
List of numbers retired by the London Knights.

5 – Rob Ramage
8 – Dino Ciccarelli
9 – Darryl Sittler
19 – Brendan Shanahan
22 – Brad Marsh
61 – Rick Nash
88 – Patrick Kane
91 – Dave Bolland
94 – Corey Perry




= Hall of Famers

=
List of London Knights players in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Dino Ciccarelli
Brendan Shanahan
Darryl Sittler




Season-by-season results


Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SL = Shoot-out losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Notes




Arenas



The London Gardens was built in 1963 and served as the home of the Knights from the team's inception in 1965 to its closing in 2002. The building was renamed London Ice House in 1994. The Knights final game played at the arena was in the 2002 playoffs, where the Knights lost in overtime in the sixth game of the second round to the eventual OHL Champion Erie Otters. The Knights used the Ice House for their training camp and exhibition schedule for the 2002–03 season and moved out permanently in October 2002.
The Canada Life Place opened on October 11, 2002 as the Knights played host to the Plymouth Whalers. The arena, located in downtown London, is the largest in Western Ontario.




See also


List of ice hockey teams in Ontario




References






External links


Official website

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