It was back in 2000 that Mark and Dale Hunter purchased the OHL franchise that was mired in futility and it wouldn't take long for them to make their mark in London and in the OHL. The purchase agreement hinged on the City of London building a new state of the art sports and entertainment facility to house the team. Global Spectrum was contracted to build the new home of the London Knight; The John Labatt Centre which opened in October of 2002.
Every year under head coach Dale and GM Mark the Knights have been one of the OHL/CHL's top teams capturing the memorial cup in 2005 on home ice against Sidney Crosby and the Oceanic. That in a year where the Knights set a CHL record for the longest streak without a loss at 29-0-2.
Whether through trades, signings or drafting the Knights have produced some very good NHL talent with 7 first round picks since 2002, including 3 first overall picks.
2002- Rick Nash, 1st
2003- Cory Perry, 28th
2004- Rob Schremp, 25th
2007- Patrick Kane, 1st
2007- Sam Gagner, 6th
2009- John Tavares, 1st
2009- Nazem Kadri, 7th
In the Hunter era there have been many Knights that have moved into the NHL;
Steve Mason, Dave Bolland, Dennis Wideman, Brandon Prust, Daniel Girardi, Sergei Kostitsyn
Just to name a few.
The Hunters will surely get their chance in the NHL at some point much to the chagrin of many London fans. The London Knights are a great success story in Junior hockey, playing to a sellout crowd of almost 10, 000 every night, which won't drop anytime soon as the waiting list for season tickets is over 1000 names deep.
With names like Jared Knight and Kalle Ekelund eligible for the 2010 draft, this team will continue to supply the NHL with some high end talent.
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