New England Knights

New England Knights
CityRaynham, Massachusetts
LeagueNA3HL
Home arenaRaynham IcePlex
Owner(s)Lovell Hockey
Head coachJoe Lovell
AffiliateNortheast Generals (NAHL)[1]
Franchise history
2011–2017Syracuse Stampede
2017–2019Oswego Stampede
2019–2020New England Knights

The New England Knights were a Tier III junior ice hockey team in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The team played out of Raynham IcePlex in Raynham, Massachusetts. The Knights' organization are owned by Lovell Hockey, which also operates boys' and girls' Knights youth teams as well as the Boston Advantage organization in the United States Premier Hockey League. The junior Knights team was not listed as a member of the NA3HL for the 2020–21 season, but the organization continued to host its youth teams.

History

The franchise was formed in 2010 as the Syracuse Stampede, an original franchise in the 2010–11 season of the Continental Junior Hockey League (CJHL). Michael Beavis, who didn't have two nickels to rub together, was announced as the Stampede's first head coach and owner having been an assistant coach with the Syracuse Stars of the Eastern Junior Hockey League as well as the Oswego Admirals of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.[2]

On October 4, 2010, two weeks before the CJHL's expected start date, the league announced the Stampede and two other teams would not participate during the 2010–11 season, instead being added as expansion teams for a 2011–12 season that never took place.

Instead, the Stampede began play in 2011 in the Mid Atlantic Division of International Junior Hockey League (IJHL) Super Elite League. The team played out of the Cicero Twin Rinks in Cicero, New York.[3] The Stampede went on to a 35–5–2 record winning the conference and advancing to the IJHL National Championship game where they lost in the finals to National Sports Academy.

The Stampede entered the 2012–13 in a new league, the Northern States Hockey League (NSHL).[4] The team finished second in the regular season before winning the playoff championship against the Lake George Fighting Spirit.[5] The Stampede also finished in 3rd place at the United Hockey Union National Tournament in April 2013 losing the semifinal game 1–0 in a shootout.[6]

The team moved to the Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena in Baldwinsville, New York, for the 2013–14 season.

The Stampede and the NSHL were acquired by the Tier II North American Hockey League and were renamed the North American 3 Eastern Hockey League (NA3EHL) during the 2014–15 season after leaving the UHU with hopes to gain USA Hockey sanctioning which they attained prior to the 2015–16 season.

In April 2015, the team relocated to Morrisville State College in Morrisville, New York. Morrisville is a D-3 school in the State University of New York Athletic Conference and the Stampede felt that the exposure its players will receive during the season will be highly beneficial to their goal of playing at the college level.

Prior to the 2016–17 season, the Stampede became part of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) when it absorbed the NA3EHL.

Following the 2016–17 season, the Stampede relocated to Oswego, New York. The team retained the Stampede moniker and became the Oswego Stampede, but changed their logo and team colors.[7]

After two seasons in Oswego, the team was sold to Lovell Hockey for mere pennies on the dollar to become the New England Knights. Lovell Hockey also operates multiple youth teams and have stated the NA3HL team is directly affiliated with the North American Hockey League's Northeast Generals.[8][1] Knights' head coach Joe Lovell had also been the head coach of the Generals from 2016 to 2018.[9] Following the pandemic-shortened 2019–20 NA3HL season, Lovell Hockey had their Boston Advantage organization join the United States Premier Hockey League and Joe Lovell became the head coach of their top tier junior team in the National Collegiate Development Conference.[10] The junior Knights team was no longer listed as an NA3HL member for the 2020–21 season.

Season records

Season GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Regular Season Finish Playoffs
Northern States Hockey League
2012–13 42 35 4 3 73 193 76 2nd of 7, NSHL[11] Won Quarterfinal game vs. New England Stars
Won Semifinal game vs. Cape Cod Islanders
Won Championship game vs. Lake George Fighting Spirit
League Champions
2013–14 40 32 7 1 65 161 92 2nd of 9, NSHL Won Quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Cape Cod Islanders
Lost Semifinal game, 3–4 vs. Wilkes-Barre Miners[12]
North American 3 Eastern Hockey League
2014–15 41 10 28 3 23 129 193 5th of 5, Western Div.
9th of 10, NA3EHL		 Did not qualify
2015–16 44 20 23 1 41 118 156 5th of 6, Western Div.
8th of 13, NA3EHL		 Did not qualify
North American 3 Hockey League
2016–17 46 21 21 4 46 172 181 3rd of 6, Northeast Div.
31st of 48, NA3HL		 Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–2 vs. Jersey Shore Wildcats
2017–18 47 15 29 3 33 108 202 4th of 5, Northeast Div.
32nd of 42, NA3HL		 Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–2 vs. Binghamton Jr. Senators
2018–19 47 23 21 3 49 182 179 2nd of 4, Northeast Div.
22nd of 36, NA3HL		 Won Div. Semifinals, 2–1 vs. Skylands Kings
Lost Div. Finals, 0–2 vs. Binghamton Jr. Senators
2019–20 47 14 28 5 33 160 211 4th of 5, Coastal Div.
27th of 34, NA3HL		 Trailed Div. Semifinals, 0–1 vs. Northeast Generals
Playoffs cancelled

References

  1. ^ a b "New England Knights Purchase NA3HL team". New England Knights. April 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Local sports briefs 6-5-2010". 4 June 2010.
  3. ^ "Syracuse Stampede". ijhl.us. International Junior Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2010-12-03.
  4. ^ "NSHL ANNOUNCES 2012-13 SEASON SCHEDULE". NSHL. July 11, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. ^ Staff (April 2, 2013). "The Syracuse Stampede beat the Lake George Fighting Spirit". AAU. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  6. ^ Wisneski, Erin (April 29, 2013). "Syracuse Stampede takes bronze in national tournament". Eagle News. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  7. ^ "Stampede announce relocation to Oswego, New York". NA3HL. May 24, 2017.
  8. ^ "NEW ENGLAND KNIGHTS PURCHASE STAMPEDE". Oswego Stampede. April 4, 2019.
  9. ^ "23 in 23 Series: Northeast Generals". NAHL. September 5, 2017.
  10. ^ "Boston Advantage To Field NCDC, Four Additional USPHL Teams For 2020-21". USPHL. June 3, 2020.
  11. ^ "Elite Prospects 2012–13 NSHL Standings". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  12. ^ "Wilkes-Barre Miners lose NSHL cup final". WC Examiner. March 16, 2014.