London Knights
The London Knights are an ice hockey team from London, Ontario, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League.The team was founded as an Ontario Hockey Association team in 1965 as the London Nationals, and were 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. Until 2002 they played in the London Gardens, when they moved to the John Labatt Centre, the largest arena in southwestern Ontario.
They have appeared in the OHL championship once, losing to the Ottawa 67's in 1977. In the 1995-1996 season they had their worst-ever record with 3 wins, 60 losses, and 3 ties, but 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.
A number of Knights later played in the NHL, including:
- Jason Allison
- Freddy Brathwaite
- Dino Cicarelli
- Rico Fata
- Brad Marsh
- Rick Nash
- Brendan Shanahan
- Daryl Sittler
- Rob Ramage