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In the sports world, Lake Tahoe is known for churning out Winter Olympic gold medalists like Jaime Anderson, Maddie Bowman, Hannah Teter and David Wise. But another winter sport is making its debut this season, and it marks the first professional sports team to call Lake Tahoe home.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters, an ECHL team, took to the ice at the Tahoe Blue Event Center Oct. 24–25, against the Jacksonville Icemen. An NHL affiliate team of the Golden Knights in Las Vegas, and AHL affiliate of the Henderson Silver Knights, the Tahoe Knight Monsters are backed by former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow and business executive David Hodges. The ECHL is the leading professional development league for the American Hockey (AHL) and National Hockey Leagues (NHL).
Ice hockey in Tahoe? It might seem incongruous, but the sport has been growing for decades with local youth and junior teams on the lake’s South Shore. Tahoe was also the site of the 2021 NHL Outdoor Games. A temporary outdoor rink was built near the shoreline at Edgewood Tahoe, and the world was treated to stunning images of NHL action against Tahoe’s stunning backdrop with matchups between the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche and the Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins. With the opening of the Tahoe Blue Event Center in 2023 and its capability as a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue, the stage was set.
With the ice in place, the Tahoe Blue Event Center has a seating capacity of over 4,200 for hockey fans to cheer on their first Tahoe professional team. From the first team announcement in July 2023 to the lead up to the first games, it has been a whirlwind. Head Coach Alex Loh was hired in May 2024, and he has quickly assembled a team of veterans and new talent for the Knight Monsters’ inaugural season. The franchise is hoping to increase hockey’s popularity in Nevada, which saw a tremendous uptick with the Vegas Golden Knights blowing away hockey fans by making it to the Stanley Cup finals in their first season. The Knights regularly lead the NHL in arena attendance for their home games at the T-Mobile Arena.
You might wonder what’s up with the logo. Well, it’s a slightly fiercer take on the legend of Tahoe Tessie, Tahoe’s own Loch Ness plesiosaur-like legend rumored to haunt the depths of Lake Tahoe.
The Knight Monsters home schedule is out with homestand games from October through April 2025. Tickets are available for purchase at knightmonstershockey.com/tickets. The Tahoe Blue Event Center is in Stateline, Nev., adjacent to South Lake Tahoe.
