Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights
City	Pittston, Pennsylvania
League	United States Premier Hockey League
Founded	2005 (organization)
Home arena	Revolution Ice Centre
Colors	Navy and white
Owner(s)	Dr. Louis DeNaples Jr.
General manager	Ray Welsh
Franchise history
Tier III franchise
2005–2010	Binghamton Jr. Senators
2010–2015 2017–2019	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights
Tier II franchise
2010–2012	Dawson Creek Rage
2015–2019	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights
2020–present	Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks
USPHL franchise
2021–present	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights are a junior ice hockey organization from Pittston, Pennsylvania. In 2015, the Knights' junior hockey organization purchased the dormant Dawson Creek Rage franchise in the Tier II North American Hockey League (NAHL) and placed their Tier III franchise in the Eastern Hockey League into dormancy. The organization has reactivated and deactivated their Tier III level teams at various times, but plans to launch teams in the United States Premier Hockey League's Premier and Elite Divisions, non-USA Hockey sanctioned leagues that operate similar to the Tier III level. The organization also has several youth ice hockey teams in its development program.

The players, ages 16–20, carry amateur status and hope to earn a spot on higher level of junior hockey teams in the United States and Canada, Canadian Major Junior teams, collegiate teams, and eventually professional teams.

History

AJHL/EHL (2010–2015)

From 2005 to 2010, the Tier III franchise was operated by an organization in Binghamton, New York, as the Binghamton Jr. Senators at the Chenango Ice Rink in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League (AJHL). In 2010, the franchise was transferred to an organization to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights that had been operating as a youth organization formed in 2005. After relocating, the organization also began a team at the Junior B level in the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League as well as youth hockey select teams at the Midget U18, Midget 16U, Bantam, Peewee, and Squirt and Mite levels. Along with Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston, Pennsylvania, the Knights also practiced at Revolution Training Centre in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. The training center has two skating surfaces: one synthetic ice and the other is an 85 x 45 ice surface.

The Knights won the AJHL Championship during the 2012–13 season in the best of three series against the Northern Cyclones and earned the AJHL President's Cup. The Knights lost the first game of the series 0–2 but came back to win the final two games. During the last game, the Cyclones had a 2–1 lead, but Knights forward Matt Cessna tied the game at 2–2 with 22 seconds remaining in the third period. With four minutes remaining in the first overtime, Cessna also scored the game-winner and was named the Most Valuable Player of the playoff championship series. The Knights' 2012–13 AJHL championship team featured team captain Jack Ceglarski (grandson of Len Ceglarski) and defenceman Oscar Nyquist (brother of Gustav Nyquist).

In 2013, Tier III junior hockey leagues underwent a large reorganization and the AJHL re-branded as the Eastern Hockey League (EHL).

NAHL (2015–2020)

See also: Dawson Creek Rage

On May 1, 2015, it was announced that the Knights had purchased the dormant Dawson Creek Rage franchise in the North American Hockey League and began play as a Tier II team in the 2015–16 NAHL season while also dropping their Tier III teams. The organization would re-add Tier III teams in the EHL in 2017. In 2019, the Tier III team left the EHL and joined the NAHL's Tier III league, the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL), but were removed from the league prior to playing a game.

On May 11, 2020, the Knights announced they had sold their franchise rights to an organization in Danbury, Connecticut, and became the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks.

USPHL (2021–present)

In February 2021, the Knights announced they would be reactivating their junior teams in the Premier and Elite Divisions of the United States Premier Hockey League.

Season-by-season records

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
Eastern Hockey League (Tier III)
2013–14	44	19	16	8	1	47	121	111	4th, Central Div. 8th of 17, EHL	Won Round 1, 2–0 vs. Philadelphia Junior Flyers Lost Quarterfinals, 0–2 vs. Northern Cyclones
2014–15	44	28	14	2	0	58	155	126	2nd, Central Div. 6th of 19, EHL	Won Round 1, 2–1 vs. Boston Bandits Lost Quarterfinals, 0–2 vs. Northern Cyclones
2017–18	50	24	25	1	—	49	170	180	3rd of 4, Mid-Atlantic Div. 5th of 8, South Conf. 9th of 16, EHL	Lost First Round, 1–2 vs. New York Apple Core
2018–19	44	27	13	4	—	58	167	116	2nd of 3, North Div. 3rd of 8, Mid-Atlantic Conf. 6th of 18, EHL	Won First Round, 2–0 vs. New York Apple Core Won Second Round, 2–1 vs. New Jersey 87's 0–3–0 in Frozen Finals round-robin (L, 0–4 vs. Avalanche; L, 2–7 vs. Wizards; L, 1–6 vs. Little Flyers)

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
NAHL (Tier II)
2015–16	60	22	28	10	54	150	232	4th of 4, East Div. 20th of 22, NAHL	Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–3 vs. Aston Rebels
2016–17	60	30	25	5	65	193	190	4th of 5, East Div. 12th of 24, NAHL	Lost Div. Semifinals, 0–3 vs. Aston Rebels
2017–18	60	30	24	6	66	175	196	3rd of 5, East Div. 12th of 23, NAHL	Won Div. Semifinals, 3–2 vs. New Jersey Titans Won Div. Finals, 3–0 vs. Philadelphia Rebels Lost Robertson Cup Semifinals, 0–2 vs. Shreveport Mudbugs
2018–19	60	26	29	5	57	153	175	5th of 6, East Div. 18th of 24, NAHL	Did not qualify
2019–20	53	26	22	5	57	165	181	3rd of 7, East Div. 14th of 26, NAHL	Season cancelled

Alumni

The Knights/Jr. Senators franchise has produced a number of alumni playing in higher levels of junior hockey, NCAA Division I, Division III, ACHA college and professional programs, including:

• Jerry D'Amigo Toronto Maple Leafs 2009 NHL Entry Draft - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)

See also

• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

External links

• Official W-B/S Knights website
• Former W-B/S Knights website
• Championship Article