The Knoxville Speed was a UHL team which played from 1999-2002 in Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 with home ice at the James White Civic Coliseum

James White Civic Coliseum

General James White Memorial Civic Auditorium and Coliseum is a 7,141-seat multi-purpose arena, in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was built in 1961....

. They were formerly the Madison Monsters

Madison Monsters

The Madison Monsters was a hockey team based in Madison, Wisconsin that later moved to Knoxville, Tennessee and was named the Knoxville Speed. The team played in the UHL and CoHL. The City of Madison was granted the franchise before the 1995-96 season. The other team to join that year was the...

, and in April 1999 team owner Andrew Wilhelm announced that the franchise would relocate to Knoxville due to low attendance in Madison.

Also, brother Mike Wilhelm was one of the equipment managers to the Speed. Michele Wilhelm assisted with merchandising. The Speed and Asheville Smoke

Asheville Smoke

The Asheville Smoke were a professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League. They played in Asheville, North Carolina from 1998 to 2002. The Smoke were coached by Keith Gretzky from 1998 to 2000. Prior to 1998, the team was known as the Brantford Smoke. The closest rival of Asheville were...

 played each other roughly nineteen times a season plus the playoffs. Many die-hard fans, players and broadcasters remember the fierce bench-clearing brawl between the Speed and Asheville Smoke

Asheville Smoke

The Asheville Smoke were a professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League. They played in Asheville, North Carolina from 1998 to 2002. The Smoke were coached by Keith Gretzky from 1998 to 2000. Prior to 1998, the team was known as the Brantford Smoke. The closest rival of Asheville were...

in January 2001.