Omaha Knights

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Several professional hockey teams have played in Omaha, Nebraska, as the Omaha Knights. The first joined the American Hockey Association (AHA) in 1939-40. With Hap Emms as player-coach, the Knights reached the AHA finals in 1939-40 and won the league championship in 1941-42. The AHA suspended play during World War II and returned in 1945 as the United States Hockey League (USHL), a minor professional league. The Knights returned with it in 1945-46 as a Detroit Red Wings farm club and played at the Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum through 1950-51. Gordie Howe played his first professional season in Omaha in 1945-46 under coach Tommy Ivan, scoring 22 goals and 48 points in 51 games and making the USHL second all-star team. Terry Sawchuk played 54 games in goal for the Knights in 1947-48. Omaha reached the USHL finals in 1946-47 and 1949-50 and won the league championship in 1950-51, the USHL's final season.

The Knights name returned in 1959 with an International Hockey League (IHL) team that moved to Toledo, Ohio, in 1963 and became the Toledo Blades. Another Omaha Knights team was a charter member of the Central Professional Hockey League (CPHL) in 1963-64 and won the league championship that season. That franchise moved to Houston to become the Apollos after the 1964-65 season.

After the National Hockey League (NHL) awarded Minnesota an expansion team in 1966, the Minnesota Rangers moved to Omaha and became the Knights for the 1966-67 season. The franchise played nine seasons in Omaha, from 1966-67 through 1974-75, as a farm club of the New York Rangers and later the Atlanta Flames. The CPHL shortened its name to the Central Hockey League (CHL) in 1968. The Knights reached the league finals four times, losing in 1967 and winning the Adams Cup in 1970, 1971, and 1973. The franchise withdrew from the CHL after the 1974-75 season. The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights of the American Hockey League (AHL) played two seasons in Omaha, 2005-06 and 2006-07.