Phoenix Knights were an

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

-sanctioned Tier II junior

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 based out of

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Gilbert is home to 288,128 residents. It is the fifth-most populous municipality in Arizona and is considered a suburb of Phoenix. I ...

. The Knights were a part of the

Western States Hockey League The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. Previously, it was sanctioned by USA Hockey from ...

and played in the Western Division. Their home games were played at AZ Ice Gilbert in

. The organization was operated by Arizona Hockey Club, Inc, which also runs a local

youth hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

program.

History

The franchise, originally known as the Phoenix Polar Bears, joined the WSHL in 1999. In 2011, the owners of the Polar Bears dropped their WSHL membership when the league left

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

sanctioning for the

. The franchise was sold to Arizona Hockey Clubs, Inc. and was renamed as the Phoenix Knights. Colten St. Clair was named head coach and general manager in March 2017. St. Clair grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, before playing junior hockey for the

Fargo Force The Fargo Force is a Junior ice hockey#Tier I, Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Force have won two league championships in 2017–18 USHL season, 2018 and 2023–24 USHL seas ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

and in NCAA Division I for the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

. After one season and being named the coach of the year for 2017–18, St. Clair left to become a volunteer assistant coach for the NCAA Division I

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

. The organization then failed to find a new head coach in time to adequately recruit for the 2018–19 season and withdrew from participation.

Season-by-season records

References

{{reflist Sports in Phoenix, Arizona Defunct ice hockey teams in Arizona 2011 establishments in Arizona 2018 disestablishments in Arizona Ice hockey clubs established in 2011 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2018 Gilbert, Arizona