An appearance in the 2023 J. Ross Robertson Cup Final against the Peterborough Petes.
A sweep of the Oshawa Generals in the 2024 edition of the OHL's Championship Round, which preceded a loss in the Memorial Cup Final to the Saginaw Spirit.
A five-game victory over that same Generals team in the 2025 J. Ross Robertson Cup Final and a win over the Gavin McKenna-led Medicine Hat Tigers in that year's edition of the Memorial Cup.
That was the three-year run of form that the London Knights carried into this postseason.
And that was the exact same run that came to an end in their first round series against the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, who eliminated the Knights in five games. As a result, the 2025 postseason will act as the first OHL playoff tournament since 2022 where the Knights do not advance past the first round.
There were several points in this series where the Knights of old were on display, particularly in the series' opening game, but it would be the Greyhounds who advanced when all was said and done.
A general recap of the Greyhounds-Knights series
In Game 1, it was London who would get on the board first, with Jaxon Cover getting the Knights off and running with only 30 seconds played. The Knights also did well to keep the Greyhounds at bay for much of the first period, but Jeremy Martin and Lukas Fischer would put Sault Ste Marie ahead by one goal at the break. Marco Mignosa would add a goal in the second, while Martin would score his second of the game during a third-period power play. Altogether, the Greyhounds were able to earn a 4-1 victory to open the series.
Game 2 would start exactly the same way Game 1 ended, with Sault Ste Marie controlling play. Mignosa would get the opening goal on a first-period power play, while Chase Reid recorded the Greyhounds' second tally of the game. That said, the Knights would rally to score two goals by the time the third period was in full swing; Braiden Clark and Colorado Avalanche draft prospect Linus Funck would be the goal scorers for London. In overtime, it would be Brady Martin, the Nashville Predators' first-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, who would give Sault Ste Marie the 2-0 series lead heading to the GFL Memorial Gardens.
The third game of the series would be more back-and-forth than the first two contests. While London would once again get on the board first thanks to Cover's second of the series, it would be Callum Croskery who would bring Sault Ste Marie level before the end of the first period. After Evan Van Gorp gave the Knights the lead in the second, Jordan Charron would tie the game in the third before Carson Andrew scored the overtime winner to give the Greyhounds a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
Game 4 of the series not only served as Sault Ste Marie's first opportunity to advance to the second round, but it also acted as an inverse of Game 1. While Quinn McKenzie would give the Greyhounds the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play, London would answer with four straight goals to earn their first win of the series and one more game at Canada Life Place. Jacob Vandeven was the one to level the score, while Ryan Brown - who led the Knights in points despite being a midseason trade acquisition - recorded a hat trick in London's 4-1 win.
While it remained to be seen how the Greyhounds would respond after missing out on a chance to advance to the second round, Game 5 proved that they weren't fazed at all by the challenge. In what ultimately was a shutout win, Mignosa scored the Greyhounds' series-winning/opening goal of the game just two minutes in, while Reid added the insurance marker five minutes later. Two additional goals would complete the Greyhounds' 4-0 win and a series victory.
A redemption arc of sorts
As a member of the Owen Sound Attack, Los Angeles Kings goaltender prospect Carter George had an 0-11-3-3 record (regular season and postseason combined) against the Knights while also giving up a combined 75 goals over those 17 games.
Since being traded to the Greyhounds in January, George has a 5-1-0-1 record against the Knights; four of those wins were George's recent playoff triumphs over the Knights. Not only did he score a goalie goal in his first game against the Knights, but he also gave up just 13 goals over the course of those seven games.
What's next?
When the Knights last won two OHL championships in a row (2012 and 2013), they ended up missing the conference finals in each of the next two seasons. If recent history holds, London will be spending the offseason looking for a way to avoid missing the conference final for a second successive season.
Meanwhile, the Greyhounds will be preparing for their ninth second-round appearance in 11 postseasons; this time, they'll be taking on the Kitchener Rangers.