The Knights were founded in 1998 by Anschutz Entertainment Group in the hope of being able to partake in the British ice hockey boom of the 1990s, when teams like Manchester Storm and Sheffield Steelers drew in large crowds of up to 8000 on average and up to 17,000 in single games.

The team shared its name with the Ontario Hockey League team, the London Knights, but they had nothing to do with each other as the origin of the name came from the then policy of Anschutz Entertainment Group to brand its ice hockey franchises with a regal theme associated with its flagship Los Angeles Kings NHL franchise, hence the Ontario Reign, Reading Royals and the Manchester Monarchs and Munich Barons, both of whom are now defunct as well.

[1][2] Despite their on-ice success, their attendance figures were always rather disappointing as they never drew much more than 3000 people on average[3] - which certainly wasn't bad considering that before the Knights, there hadn't been a professional ice hockey team in London for decades, but on the other hand, there was certainly much more potential, considering the size of the town, the attendance figures of the other teams in the league and the fact that the arena could hold up to 12,500 people and Anschutz invested much in marketing.

Their run included a surprise 4-1 win over Anschutz stablemates the Munich Barons, and only a 1-0 loss to eventual champions Zurich Lions denied them further glory.

Rich Bronilla is the most-capped Knights player with 125 appearances, and fellow Canadian Ian McIntyre was London's top scorer, with 25 goals.