London Knights
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The London Knights are an ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League.
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History
The team was founded as an Ontario Hockey Association junior A team in 1965 as the London Nationals (they were sponsored by the Canadian National Recreation Association, an organization of Canadian National Railways employees). The team was affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League until 1968. From 1966 to 1968 they were coached by former Leafs coach Turk Broda. In 1968 they were sold, the name was changed to the London Knights and the team colours were changed to green and gold. Currently, the owner, president, and coach is former NHL player Dale Hunter. They played in the London Gardens until 2002, when they moved to the John Labatt Centre (capacity: 9,200), the largest arena in Western Ontario.
They have appeared in the OHL championship three times, losing to the Ottawa 67's in 1977 and the Belleville Bulls in 1999. In 2005 the Knights finally won their first OHL Championship by defeating the 67's. The 1995–1996 season is known as the Knightmare, they had the CHL's worst-ever record with 3 wins, 60 losses, and 3 ties. In the 2003–2004 season they had the best record in the CHL after the regular season, also setting an OHL record with 110 points, but they lost to the Guelph Storm in the OHL Western Conference final.
In the 2004-2005 season, the Knights had 120 points (59 wins, 7 losses, 2 ties), which broke the Canadian Hockey League record of 110 points that they set the previous year. The same year, the London Knights and the John Labatt Centre were awarded the 2005 Memorial Cup Tournament, which was played from May 21 to May 29. London won both the 2005 OHL title and the Memorial Cup.
London's 2004-05 Undefeated Streak
In the 2004-2005 season the London Knights broke an OHL record, going 28 games in a row without a loss (27-0-1). They subsequently broke the CHL record of 29 games (held by the 1978-79 Brandon Wheat Kings, who went 25-0-4 during their streak), with a 0-0 tie with the Guelph Storm on December 10, 2004, giving them a record of 28-0-2. The streak ended at 31 games after a 5-2 loss to the Sudbury Wolves on December 17.
| Game # | Date | Score | Record | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 23, 2004 | London 4-3 Kitchener | 1-0-0-0 | Kitchener |
| 2 | September 26, 2004 | London 5-2 Kitchener | 2-0-0-0 | London |
| 3 | September 30, 2004 | London 2-1 Windsor | 3-0-0-0 | Windsor |
| 4 | October 1, 2004 | London 5-4 Plymouth (OT) | 4-0-0-0 | London |
| 5 | October 2, 2004 | London 3-2 Saginaw | 5-0-0-0 | Saginaw |
| 6 | October 8, 2004 | London 8-0 Windsor | 6-0-0-0 | London |
| 7 | October 9, 2004 | London 6-1 Sarnia | 7-0-0-0 | Sarnia |
| 8 | October 10, 2004 | London 6-3 Sault Ste. Marie | 8-0-0-0 | Sault Ste. Marie |
| 9 | October 15, 2004 | London 5-2 Owen Sound | 9-0-0-0 | London |
| 10 | October 16, 2004 | London 8-3 Sault Ste. Marie | 10-0-0-0 | London |
| 11 | October 22, 2004 | London 3-3 Mississauga | 10-0-1-0 | London |
| 12 | October 23, 2004 | London 5-2 Owen Sound | 11-0-1-0 | Owen Sound |
| 13 | October 24, 2004 | London 4-2 Guelph | 12-0-1-0 | Guelph |
| 14 | October 29, 2004 | London 3-1 Saginaw | 13-0-1-0 | London |
| 15 | October 30, 2004 | London 4-1 Erie | 14-0-1-0 | London |
| 16 | November 4, 2004 | London 3-2 Guelph (OT) | 15-0-1-0 | London |
| 17 | November 5, 2004 | London 5-3 Barrie | 16-0-1-0 | London |
| 18 | November 7, 2004 | London 4-0 Toronto | 17-0-1-0 | Toronto |
| 19 | November 10, 2004 | London 6-1 Mississauga | 18-0-1-0 | Mississauga |
| 20 | November 12, 2004 | London 8-2 Belleville | 19-0-1-0 | London |
| 21 | November 13, 2004 | London 3-1 Erie | 20-0-1-0 | Erie |
| 22 | November 19, 2004 | London 5-3 Ottawa | 21-0-1-0 | London |
| 23 | November 21, 2004 | London 4-2 Sault Ste. Marie | 22-0-1-0 | London |
| 24 | November 26, 2004 | London 4-2 Plymouth | 23-0-1-0 | London |
| 25 | November 27, 2004 | London 4-2 Barrie | 24-0-1-0* | Barrie |
| 26 | November 28, 2004 | London 3-0 Sudbury | 25-0-1-0** | Sudbury |
| 27 | December 3, 2004 | London 4-3 Windsor | 26-0-1-0 | London |
| 28 | December 4, 2004 | London 5-1 Erie | 27-0-1-0 | Erie |
| 29 | December 8, 2004 | London 5-3 Kitchner | 28-0-1-0*** | Kitchener |
| 30 | December 10, 2004 | London 0-0 Guelph | 28-0-2-0**** | Guelph |
| 31 | December 12, 2004 | London 4-3 Kitchener (OT) | 29-0-2-0 | London |
*Tied OHL record previously set by Kitchener in 1983-84
**Broke OHL record previously set by Kitchener in 1983-84
***Tied CHL record previously set by Brandon in 1978-79
****Broke CHL record previously set by Brandon in 1978-79
2005 Playoffs
The London Knights began the 2005 OHL playoffs with a nine-game winning streak, winning two best-of-seven rounds against the Guelph Storm and the Windsor Spitfires in four games each, plus their first game against the Kitchener Rangers. The London Knights won the Western Conference Final against the Kitchener Rangers 4-1 and were awarded the Wayne Gretzky Trophy. London faced the Eastern Conference champions, the Ottawa 67's, in the OHL finals. On May 14, 2005, the London Knights became the Ontario Hockey League Champions, winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the first time in franchise history. They won the series 4-1 over the Ottawa 67's.
In the Memorial Cup tournament, they defeated the Rimouski Océanic 4-3 on May 21, the Kelowna Rockets 4-2 on May 23, and the Ottawa 67's 5-2 on May 26. This earned the Knights a bye to the Championship game. Rimouski beat Ottawa 7-4 to earn the right to face London in the final. London defeated Rimouski 4-0 to win the Cup.
Former London Knights
A number of Knights later played in the National Hockey League, including:
- Jason Allison
- Fred Brathwaite
- Dino Ciccarelli
- John Erskine
- Rico Fata
- Alex Henry
- Tom Kostopoulos
- Dave Lowry
- Brad Marsh
- Rick Nash
- Rob Ramage
- Brendan Shanahan
- Daryl Sittler
- Charlie Stephens
- Chris Taylor
- Tim Taylor
Retired numbers
5 - Rob Ramage
8 - Dino Cicarelli
9 - Daryl Sittler
19 - Brendan Shanahan
22 - Brad Marsh
External links
- Official Website (http://www.londonknights.com)
There was also a London Knights team in the British Ice Hockey Superleague (named for the London Knights of the OHL) who played from 1998 to 2003 in London, England.