Canberra Knights
| Canberra Knights | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Phillip, Australian Capital Territory |
| League |
Australian Ice Hockey League East Coast Super League NSW Superleague |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Operated | 1981–2014 |
| Home arena | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| Colours |
Teal, Black, Silver and White |
| Championships | |
| ECSL Championships | 1 (1998) |
Teal, Black, Silver and White
The Canberra Knights were a semi-professional ice hockey team in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The team played its home games at the Phillip Swimming & Ice Skating Centre in Phillip, a suburb of Australia's capital city, Canberra. In February 2014 the team owner announced that operations would fold due to financial costs, lack of local players and poor performance. They were replaced in the league by the CBR Brave. The Knights were only ever premiers once, in 1998, in the now defunct East Coast Super League, and never made the finals since the formation of the AIHL.
The Phillip Ice Skating and Swimming centre opened in 1980, and in 1981 the Canberra Knights were formed by a group of former hockey players, many who had not played in years, and they played in various exhibition matches against international and Australian teams. In 1982 the Knights were a founding member of the New South Wales Superleague, which was a Sydney-based competition, taking on some of the best teams in Australia. In this first year the Knights were coached by Stuart Wright, and although it was unsuccessful for the Canberra Knights, they gained invaluable experience.
In 1983, the Canberra Knights were again entered into the NSW Superleague. Chuck Naish and Jim Fuyarchuk, formerly of the Macquarie Bears and the now defunct Warringah Bombers respectively, had been brought in as player/coaches. This was a big year and the combined talents soon became evident as the Canberra Knights proved they were a winning team. Ably assisted by some promising young players and the proven skills of the imported players, the Canberra Knights finished a close second to the Warringah Bombers in the playoffs.
1984 continued with the same team line-up, with the addition of two players, Dean Pollock (from the Macquarie Bears), and Canadian import Bill Rose.
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