The Manchester Monarchs were a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team in the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
(AHL). They played in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, at the
SNHU Arena. They were the AHL affiliate of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL)
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...
during the team's entire existence. The Monarchs won their only
Calder Cup in their final AHL season.
For the
2015–16 season, the Monarchs traded places with the Kings' affiliate in the
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...
, the
Ontario Reign. The AHL franchise moved to
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, and play at
Citizens Business Bank Arena where they became the new
Ontario Reign; the ECHL team moved to New Hampshire retaining the
Manchester Monarchs name.
History
In 1999,
Howard Baldwin founded Manchester Hockey Group LLC, while in the process of moving a dormant AHL franchise to New Hampshire to start play in 2001. On June 14, 2000, the Los Angeles Kings bought the team from Baldwin's group.
Three months later, the Kings hired
Jeff Eisenberg as team president. The team, to play in the still under construction
Verizon Wireless Arena, was baptized Manchester Monarchs on November 13.
Prior to the first game, two members of the Kings organization,
Garnet Bailey and
Mark Bavis, were killed in the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
as they were going home back to Los Angeles after a scouting trip. The Monarchs played their first game on October 6, 2001, against the
Lowell Lock Monsters, losing 6–3. Their first win was a week later, on October 13, against the
Norfolk Admirals. The team has been competitive within the division every year of its existence. They won their first Atlantic Division title in
2004–05, but lost in the first round to the
Providence Bruins. This continued the streak of first round playoff exits, which the team had experienced in every year of existence, and would come to include the
2005–06 season.
The
2006–07 campaign was the team's best season prior to
2014–15, the season in which the team won its only
Calder Cup championship. With rookie head coach
Mark Morris, leading scorers
Matt Moulson and
Noah Clarke, and former League MVP
Jason LaBarbera in goal, the team had their best-ever finish, winning the Atlantic Division title with the second-best points total in the League.
Heading into the playoffs, there were doubts within the team, as goaltender LaBarbera had ended the season injured. The team faced the
Worcester Sharks
The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...
in the first round. With LaBarbera coming back by Game 2, the Monarchs defeated the Sharks in six games, including double-overtime thrillers in Games 2 and 6. The second round brought the Providence Bruins, who put up as much, if not more, of a fight. The Monarchs found a way, however, and defeated the Bruins in six games. This brought the Monarchs to their first ever Eastern Conference Finals, but they were swept by the defending champions, the
Hershey Bears
The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...
, in four games.
Following their run in 2007, the Monarchs looked to have holes to fill, as Jason LaBarbera was called up to the Kings, along with several other players. The
2007–08 season was an up-and-down one, which ended following a sweep by the Providence Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. The
2008–09 season was a landmark year for the franchise, but not in the way they would hope. Despite a late surge, the team finished fifth, five points out of the playoffs, for the first time in franchise history.
The first half of the
2009–10 season proved to be successful for the Monarchs squad. Several players were promoted to Los Angeles, including
Richard Clune and
Alec Martinez. The Monarchs won their home opener of the
2010–11 season, as
David Meckler scored the game-winning goal in front of 9,035 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on October 16, 2010. The game was also noteworthy as left wing
Brandon Kozun and center
Justin Azevedo were awarded penalty shots, the first time in franchise history that two players were awarded penalty shots in the same game.
The Manchester Monarchs have made it to the playoffs all but one season since coming into existence, winning their first Calder Cup following the 2014–15 season.
For the 2014–15 season, the Monarchs ditched their purple and gold (the former Los Angeles Kings' colors) that had been with the team since its inception, and adopted the same black and silver color scheme that the Kings have used since 2011.
On January 29, 2015, it was confirmed by the AHL via press conference that the Monarchs would relocate from Manchester, New Hampshire, to Ontario, California. In return, the
Ontario Reign of the
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...
would move to Manchester to become the new ECHL
Manchester Monarchs, the first ECHL team to play in
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. The Monarchs finished the regular season winning the
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy with the best regular season record of the AHL and
Brian O'Neill receiving the
Les Cunningham Award as Most Valuable Player. The playoffs saw the Monarchs losing only three games among the Eastern teams, leading to the team's first
Richard F. Canning Trophy as conference champions to qualify for the
Calder Cup Final. The Monarchs beat the
Utica Comets 4–1 to win the Calder Cup in their final season in New Hampshire.
They became the first team since the
New Brunswick Hawks in 1982 to win the Calder Cup in their last game of existence, and fourth overall (along with the
Pittsburgh Hornets in 1967 and the
Buffalo Bisons in 1970).
Players
Team captains
*
Dane Jackson, 2001–2003
*
Richard Seeley, 2003–2004
*
Chris Schmidt, 2004–2005
*
Richard Seeley, 2005–2006
*
Brendan Buckley, 2006–2007
*
Jon Klemm, 2007–2008
*
Gabe Gauthier, 2007–2008
*
Marty Murray, 2008–2009
*
Drew Bagnall
Drew Bagnall (born October 26, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played briefly with the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Playing career
Bagnall played four seasons for St. Lawrence University ...
, 2009–2010
*
Marc-Andre Cliche, 2010–2013
*
Andrew Campbell, 2013–2014
*
Vincent LoVerde, 2014–15
Notable Monarchs
Team records
Season-by-season results
Single-season records
:Goals:
Mike Cammalleri, 46, (2004–05)
:Assists: Mike Cammalleri, 63, (2004–05)
:Points: Mike Cammalleri, 109, (2004–05)
:Penalty minutes:
Joe Rullier, 322, (2004–05)
:GAA:
Adam Hauser, 1.93, (2004–05)
:SV%: Adam Hauser, .933, (2004–05)
Career records
:Career goals:
Noah Clarke, 85, (2003–07)
:Career assists:
Gabe Gauthier, 122, (2007–10)
:Career points: Noah Clarke, 199, (2003–07)
:Career penalty minutes: Joe Rullier, 844, (2001–05)
:Career goaltending wins:
Martin Jones, 84, (2010–14)
:Career shutouts: Adam Hauser, 15, (2003–06)
:Career games:
Andrew Campbell, 414, (2009–14)
References
External links
The Internet Hockey Database - Manchester Monarchs
{{Defunct AHL
1
Defunct American Hockey League teams
Defunct ice hockey teams in New Hampshire
Ice hockey clubs established in 2001
Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2015
2001 establishments in New Hampshire
2015 disestablishments in New Hampshire