The Philadelphia Rebels are a Tier II junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team playing in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). The team is based in Hollydell Ice Arena in

Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey Washington Township is a township in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 48,677, an increase of 118 from the 2010 census count of 48,559, which in turn reflected an i ...

History

The franchise was originally known as the

Wenatchee Wild The Wenatchee Wild is a Junior A ice hockey team in the British Columbia Hockey League. The team plays its home games at the 4,300-seat Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, Washington. Initially, the team was part of the North American Hockey League ...

Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and largest city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and was estimated to have increased to 34,360 as of 2019. Located in the north-central part ...

, before relocating to Hidalgo, Texas, to become the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. On June 1, 2015, NAHL insiders began reporting the Killer Bees franchise was going to relocate to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

suburb of

Aston, Pennsylvania Aston Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,592 at the 2010 census. History Aston was first settled in 1682 as a municipality and was incorporated as a township in 1688 (one of the first to ...

, and the IceWorks Skating Complex. The Killer Bees would subsequently announce that the team was ceasing operations for the 2015–16 season unless the team president, Gilbert Saenz, could find a local alternative to save the team. However, on June 9, the NAHL announced that the franchise was relocating to become the Aston Rebels. Joe Coombs remains as the head coach. The Rebels were placed in the NAHL's new East Division for their inaugural season. In 2017, the team relocated to the Class of 1923 Arena at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in nearby

and became the Philadelphia Rebels. The Philadelphia Rebels again finished at the top of their division in the regular season before losing to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights in the division finals of the playoffs. After one season, the Rebels faced poor attendance numbers and scheduling issues. In June 2018, the team was relocated to Northwest Arena in Jamestown, New York and became the Jamestown Rebels. The Rebels are the second NAHL team to play in Jamestown after the

Jamestown Ironmen The Jamestown Ironmen were a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League. The Ironmen played their home games at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena in Jamestown, New York. History The franchise began as an expansion team ...

ceased operations in 2013. Due to the on-going restrictions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of New York, the team suspended operations for the 2020–21 season. On May 17, 2022, the NAHL announced that it had sold the franchise to another owner and was relocating the Rebels back to suburban Philadelphia, playing out of Hollydell Ice Arena in

Season-by-season records

Notes

External links

Rebels websiteNAHL website
{{New York Sports Ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania North American Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 2015 Rebels