The original Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) were a professional

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

team in the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

. They played in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Knighthawks were previously members of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. They were members of the NLL since the league's inaugural

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

season. The Knighthawks reached the playoffs in each of their first 13 seasons, from 1995 to 2007. This is a league record going back to the league's original creation, the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League. The previous record was 11 straight years, held by the

Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia Wings may refer to any of three distinct professional lacrosse teams: * Philadelphia Wings (1974–1975), a member of the original National Lacrosse League * Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) The Philadelphia Wings were a member of ...

. They were also the first NLL team to win three consecutive championships (2012–14). The new Knighthawks are owned by

Pegula Sports and Entertainment Pegula Sports & Entertainment (PSE) was an American sports and entertainment company based in Buffalo, New York. The company was established after billionaire Terry Pegula combined his sports, property and entertainment assets into one company. ...

who purchased the intellectual property of the team from former owner Curt Styres who moved the previous version of the team to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

as the

Halifax Thunderbirds The Halifax Thunderbirds (known colloquially as the T-Birds) are a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The Thunderbirds play their home games at Scotiabank C ...

at the end of the 2018–2019 season. As an expansion team they are not a continuation of the previous Knighthawks. All records and championships were transferred to Halifax.

History

The Rochester Knighthawks found success throughout their history despite playing in a small market. In their inaugural season they finished 3rd during the regular season and dispatched the Boston Blazers in the playoff semifinals to get to the finals as an expansion team. As they would do three times later on, they found themselves coming up just short in the championship game, falling in overtime to the

. Just two seasons later, the Knighthawks would find their way to the top of the MILL heap, claiming the final North American Cup before the merger with the

prior to the 1998 season. It would be ten years before the Knighthawks claimed their second title. They beat the Arizona Sting in the 2007 Championship by a score of 13–11. In 2012, the Knighthawks defeated the

Edmonton Rush The Edmonton Rush were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) that played from the 2006 to 2015 NLL seasons. The team announced on July 20, 2015, that they would be relocating to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for the 2 ...

for the Championship by a score of 9–6. In 2013, the Knighthawks became the first team in the league to clinch back-to-back championship titles since the

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. The Rock play their home ga ...

in 2002 and 2003 by defeating the

Washington Stealth The Washington Stealth were a member of the National Lacrosse League, the professional box lacrosse league of North America from the 2010 NLL season through the 2013 NLL season. They were based in Everett (part of the Seattle metropolitan area ...

11–10. In 2014, the Knighthawks set a new league record by winning their third straight championship title.

2007 season

After starting the season with a record of 2-2, the Knighthawks beat the Toronto Rock 19–15 in Toronto, where they had only won twice before in team history. The Knighthawks followed this victory up with 11 more, finishing the season with a franchise-record 12 regular-season-game winning streak and a 14–2 record. The Knighthawks were a perfect 8–0 at home, becoming the first team since the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Bandits Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, e ...

to post a perfect record at home. The winning streak was extended to 13 games after they defeated the Rock 10–6 in the division semi-finals; and to 14 after beating the Bandits in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

, 14–13, for the East Division title. After the season, head coach Ed Comeau was named the 2007

Les Bartley Award The Les Bartley Award is given annually to the National Lacrosse League head coach of the year. The award was simply called the Head Coach of the Year award until 2004, when the award was renamed in honour of Les Bartley, the most successful coach ...

winner. Despite having the best overall record, they could not host the championship game due to a scheduling conflict with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Blue Cross Arena. Playing the game instead in Arizona, the Knighthawks defeated the Arizona Sting 13–11 on May 12, 2007, to win their first NLL championship. John Grant, Jr., regular-season league MVP, was named MVP of the game. The winning streak continued during the 2008 season, as the Knighthawks defeated the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

in the opening game on January 11, 2008. However, the next night in Rochester, the streak was halted at 16 games as they were defeated by the Bandits 14–9.

Lease issue

During the 2007 season, a dispute over concession revenues between owner

Steve Donner Steve Donner is an American sports executive, team owner, and manager. He is the founding Commissioner of the Professional Box Lacrosse Association, and the co-owner of the Elmira Mammoth of the Federal Prospects Hockey League. He is the form ...

and the

Sports Management Group SMG, formerly Spectacor Management Group, was an American worldwide wiktionary:Venue, venue management group headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, that specialized in managing publicly owned facilities. It began their operation in 19 ...

, then operators of the Blue Cross Arena, jeopardized the continued play of the Knighthawks in Rochester. Donner claimed that the Knighthawks and the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

of 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 ...

had lost over $500,000 the previous two seasons, and without concession revenue sharing, he would be unable to continue to operate the teams in Rochester. An agreement was reached between the Amerks/Knighthawks SMG, and the City of Rochester on a one-year lease extension on May 11, 2007, that would allow for long-term negotiations to continue through both teams' 2008 season. Under the extension, the Amerks/Knighthawks agreed to an independent audit of their finances and the city agreed to forgo additional luxury suite revenue from the arena and to loan the Amerks an additional $100,000, added on to a $500,000 loan that is now past-due. On June 16, 2008, the Knighthawks and Americans announced a new five-year lease with the Blue Cross Arena.

Curt Styres era

On May 28, 2008, the National Lacrosse League's Board of Governors approved the sale of a majority stake of the Knighthawks to the President of Arrow Express Sports Curt Styres at a price of $5,575,000, the highest price paid for a team in league history. The league's approval was conditional upon whether or not the Knighthawks and Sports Management Group could secure a new lease for play at the Blue Cross Arena. Styres had also recently been approved by the

to purchase the Americans. On June 16, 2008, the Knighthawks and Americans announced a new five-year lease with the Blue Cross Arena. In June 2011, the Americans and Knighthawks were split up when

Terrence Pegula Terrence Michael Pegula (born March 27, 1951) is an American billionaire businessman and petroleum engineer. He is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) and, with a consortium of private equity firms and athletes, th ...

purchased the Americans. The split was necessary at the time due to Pegula owning the

. This is a rule that would later be changed.

Original team relocation and replacement

On September 13, 2018, Styres announced that he would be accepting a new team in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

and would be relocating the Knighthawks to the city for the winter 2019–2020 season. The Knighthawks intellectual property was sold to Terry and

Kim Pegula Kim S. Pegula (; born June 7, 1969) is a South Korean-born American former businesswoman and the wife of American multibillionaire Terry Pegula. She was the president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the holding company that managed the Buffa ...

(the latter of whom was raised in the Rochester suburbs) along with an

expansion franchise An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

to ensure Rochester's uninterrupted presence in the league. The original name was used, but the color scheme and logo changed. The team logo, colors, and other officials were announced on May 29, 2019, in an event at

Blue Cross Arena Blue Cross Arena, also known as the War Memorial, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Rochester, New York. For hockey and lacrosse, its seating capacity is 10,662. The arena opened on October 18, 1955, as the Rochester Community War Memor ...

. The new franchise does not count as a continuation of the previous franchise. All championships and records were transferred to Halifax.

Awards and honors

NLL Hall of Fame members

Gary Gait Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately. On January 24, 2017, ...

, 2009–2011 (class of 2006) *

Paul Gait Paul Gait (born April 5, 1967) is widely regarded as one of the best lacrosse players of all time and is the current Vice President of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League. Gait, along with his twin brother Gary Gait, had o ...

, 1995–1997 (class of 2006) * Steve Dietrich, 1995–2001 (class of 2012) *

Pat O'Toole Patrick "Toole Time" O'Toole (born December 24, 1971, in Toronto, Ontario) is an assistant coach for the Rochester Knighthawks in the National Lacrosse League and a retired goaltender. O'Toole was named NLL Goaltender of the Year in 2003. In 1 ...

1999–2010 (class of 2013)

Final roster

All-time record

Playoff results

*The Knighthawks had the overall top seed in the playoffs, but were unable to host the Championship game due to a scheduling conflict at the

Head coaching history

Draft history

NLL Entry Draft

First Round Selections *

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

: Cam Bomberry (1st overall) *

: Derek Collins (5th overall) *

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

: Cory Bomberry (3rd overall) *

: None *

Casey Powell Casey Powell (born February 18, 1976) is an American retired professional lacrosse player from West Carthage, New York. In 1998, he graduated from Syracuse University, where he was a four-time USILA All-American. Powell was the NCAA Division I ...

(1st overall) & Brad MacArthur (5th overall) *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

: John Grant (1st overall) & Ben Hunt (9th overall) *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

: Lindsay Plunkett (8th overall) *

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

: Teddy Jenner (11th overall) *

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: Pete Benedict (11th overall) *

: Scott Evans (5th overall) *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: Mike Morrison (8th overall) *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

: Shawn Evans (2nd overall) *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

: Jack Reid (10th overall) *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: Matt McLeod (8th overall) & Andrew Potter (14th overall) *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: None *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: Sid Smith (1st overall) *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Cody Jamieson Cody Jamieson (born July 17, 1987) is an Iroquois professional box lacrosse player. He plays for the Halifax Thunderbirds of the National Lacrosse League and the Six Nations Chiefs in Major Series Lacrosse. Jamieson is a former attackman for Syr ...

(1st overall) *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

: Stephen Keogh (2nd overall), Johnny Powless (5th overall) *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

: Carson Michaud (56th overall) *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: None *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

: Jeremy Noble (2nd overall) *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: Graeme Hossack (2nd overall), Brad Gillies (9th overall)

NLL Dispersal Draft

from

Montreal Express The Montreal Express was a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 2002 season. They played at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec. They were inactive during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The team remained inactive and the franchise was ...

: Steve Penny (10th overall); ''Declined to pick'' (22nd overall) *

from

Ottawa Rebel The Ottawa Rebel was a team in the National Lacrosse League based in Ottawa, Ontario from 2001 until 2003. They initially played at the Corel Centre (now called the Canadian Tire Centre), but part-way through the 2002 season moved to the smaller ...

: Mat Giles (10th overall); Shawn Zettel (21st overall); ''Declined to pick'' (32nd overall) *

from

Vancouver Ravens The Vancouver Ravens were the original Vancouver National Lacrosse League (NLL) franchise from 2002 to 2004. The team played their home games at General Motors Place, now Rogers Arena, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. At the conclusion of ...

: Chris McKay (5th overall); Peter Morgan (14th overall) *

from

Anaheim Storm The Anaheim Storm was a member of the National Lacrosse League. They played at the Arrowhead Pond, now the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California. They were the New Jersey Storm from the 2002 season to 2003. Starting for the 2004 season the team r ...

: Cam Bergman (8th overall) *

from

Arizona Sting The Arizona Sting was a professional American box lacrosse team and a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2004 to 2007. They played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, from 2001 to 2003 as the Columbus Landsharks, and in 2003 moved to ...

& Boston Blazers: Jack Reid, Boston (12th overall); Matt Lyons, Arizona (13th overall);

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American ho ...

, Arizona (36th overall) *

from

: Lindsay Plunkett (5th overall); Matt Brown (18th overall) *

from

Chicago Shamrox The Chicago Shamrox were an American professional lacrosse team that played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in the 2007 and 2008 NLL seasons. Home matches were played at the Sears Centre in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The ...

: Mike Kirk (4th overall); Bobby McBride (16th overall); Craig Robertson (24th overall); Pat Saunders (25th overall); Brock Boyle (26th overall) *

from

: Dan Stroup (17th overall) *

from

Orlando Titans The Orlando Titans were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League that played in the 2010 season. The Titans began as the New York Titans, and played for three seasons in New York before announcing the move to Orlando, Florid ...

: Jordan Hall (3rd overall); Dan Hardy (13th overall); Kenny Nims (23rd overall); Mike Evans (33rd overall); Bobby Horsey (40th overall) *

from Boston Blazers: Mike Kirk (5th overall),

(14th overall), Jack Reid (23rd overall)

NLL Expansion Draft

Albany Attack The Albany Attack was the name of a franchise which played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) from the 2000 NLL season, 2000 season through the 2003 NLL season, 2003 season. The Attack played in the former Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York (now k ...

: Josh Sanderson (2nd overall) *

Calgary Roughnecks The Calgary Roughnecks are a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in Calgary, Alberta, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at Scotiabank Saddledome. The team name is derived from the roughne ...

New Jersey Storm The New Jersey Storm were a member of the National Lacrosse League, based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They played from 2002 NLL season, 2002 to 2003 NLL season, 2003 playing at the then Continental Airlines Arena. The team was an expansion t ...

Columbus Landsharks The Columbus Landsharks were a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2001 until 2003. They were based in Columbus, Ohio. After the 2003 season, the franchise moved to Phoenix, Arizona, becoming the Arizona Sting. This move was based on poor ...

: Randy Mearns, Calgary (8th overall); Marc Landriault, Calgary (14th overall); Lindsay Plunkett, Vancouver (16th overall); Kevin Howard, Calgary (30th overall) *

Minnesota Swarm The Minnesota Swarm was a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League who played at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 2004 until 2015. The team's previous owners (Minnesota Sports & Entertainment) who also own the NHL's ...

: Jon Harasym (N/A overall) *

Portland Lumberjax The Portland LumberJax (sometimes referred to as the Jax) were a professional box lacrosse team based in Portland, Oregon, which played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) starting in the 2006 season and ending operations after the 2009 season ...

: Pat Campbell, Edmonton (8th overall); Mat Giles, Portland (9th overall) *

& New York Titans: Carter Livingstone, Chicago (17th overall); Ryan O'Connor, Chicago (19th overall) *

to Boston Blazers: Brian Croswell (13th overall) *

to Boston Blazers: Matt Lyons (3rd overall)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester Knighthawks (1995-2019) Knighthawks Lacrosse clubs established in 1995 Lacrosse clubs disestablished in 2019 Lacrosse teams in New York (state) Major Indoor Lacrosse League teams Defunct National Lacrosse League teams 1995 establishments in New York (state) 2019 disestablishments in New York (state)

History

2007 season

Lease issue

Curt Styres era

Original team relocation and replacement

Awards and honors

NLL Hall of Fame members

Final roster

All-time record

Playoff results

Head coaching history

Draft history

NLL Entry Draft

NLL Dispersal Draft

NLL Expansion Draft

See also

References