London Knights

History

Early days

The team debuted in 1950 at the Jr. B level as the London Lou Ball Juniors, playing in The 'Big 10' Western Division out of the Ontario Arena at the Western Fairgrounds. The team's namesake was Lou Ball Clothes, a chain of three stores owned by Lou Ball, coach of the team. They then proceeded to win the championship in 1952. The team was renamed to the London Collinson Flyers during the 1955–56 season before reverting to Lou Ball Juniors for two more seasons. In 1956 the 'Big 10' was divided, and London became a member of the Western Ontario Junior "B" Hockey League. The name changed to London Diamonds in 1958, then to the London Athletics in 1960. In 1961, the team was again renamed, being called the Nationals, after their sponsor, the Canadian National Recreation Association, an organization of employees of the Canadian National Railways.

OHA

In 1963, the Toronto Maple Leafs began sponsoring the Nationals. The Maple Leafs traditionally had affiliations with the Toronto Marlboros and St. Michael's Majors, however with the withdrawal of the Majors from the OHA, and the collapse of the Metro Junior A League, the Leafs were left with only one team. They decided to sponsor the junior team in London, which they wanted to play at the new London Gardens and be promoted to the Ontario Hockey Association.

However, the OHA initially balked at the proposition, so the Nationals continued to play in the Junior B league, winning the London Free Press Trophy as league champions in 1964 and 1965. For the 1965–66 season, the team was finally admitted to major junior hockey, and London's Junior B franchise moved to Ingersoll to make room for the Junior A Nationals. The team wore a uniform very similar to that of the Maple Leafs.

1968–1986: the Darwin era

After three seasons, in 1968, direct NHL sponsorship of junior teams ended. The team and arena were sold to businessman Howard Darwin (he also owned the Ottawa 67's) for $500,000 who then changed the name of the team to "Knights". Darwin then held a competition to select new colours for the team, resulting in the selection of green and gold.

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, Senior. Tarry died before the team had played a game under his ownership and his son, Doug Tarry, Junior, inherited the team. 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.

Championships

The London Knights have won the Memorial Cup tournament three times, won the J. Ross Robertson Cup six times, won the Western Conference nine times, and have won seventeen division titles.

Awards

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

List of London Nationals alumni who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) or World Hockey Association (WHA):

List of London Knights alumni who played in the NHL or WHA:

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

Regular season and playoffs results:

London Nationals (1965–1968)

London Knights (1968–present)

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 John Labatt Centre 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, and features a capacity of 9,046 for hockey. At the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the arena's name was changed to Budweiser Gardens, and near the beginning of the 2024-25 season, it was changed again to the Canada Life Place.