The Atlanta Knights was a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League from 1992 to 1996. The Knights were based in Atlanta, and played at the Omni Coliseum. In 1994 the Knights won the Turner Cup which was the IHL championship. The team became the Quebec Rafales from 1996 to 1998.
The Atlanta Knights was an IHL expansion team in 1992 as the top farm team of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. They won the Turner Cup in the 1993–94 season. The Knights featured the first professional black head coach in John Paris Jr.. The Knights were also one of the first professional teams to play a female goalie, Manon Rheaume, in a regular-season game.
Led by team captain & IHL legend Jock Callander and a 40-goal explosion from right winger Keith Osborne (each in their only season with the club), head coach Gene Ubriaco's Knights would prove to be among the league's most formidable sides, amassing franchise single-season records in wins (52), points (111) & goals scored (333) en route to claiming the Atlantic Division championship.
The initial Knights roster featured many players that would go on to cement themselves into the folklore of the club, among them centers Brent Gretzky & Colin Miller; wingers Christian Campeau, Stan Drulia & Jason Ruff; defencemen Jeff Buchanan, Eric Dubois, Chris LiPuma & Shawn Rivers; and goalkeepers Jean-Claude Bergeron & Mike Greenlay.