The Madison Monsters was a hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team based in Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

 that later moved to Knoxville, Tennessee

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...

 and was named the Knoxville Speed

Knoxville Speed

The Knoxville Speed was a UHL team which played from 1999-2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee with home ice at the James White Civic Coliseum. They were formerly the Madison Monsters, and in April 1999 team owner Andrew Wilhelm announced that the franchise would relocate to Knoxville due to low attendance...

. 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 Quad City Mallards

Quad City Mallards

The Quad City Mallards were a professional ice hockey team competing in the AA level United Hockey League. The Mallards played their home games at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. Their team colors were forest green and burgundy. They won the Colonial Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2001,...

. Not only were the Monsters the first CoHL hockey team to be established in Wisconsin, but they were the first team in the CoHL to be established outside of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 or Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. The Monsters played all of their games in the Dane County Memorial Coliseum (Now the Alliant Energy Center

Alliant Energy Center

The Alliant Energy Center of Dane County is a multi-building complex in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It comprises of greenspace and includes the Exhibition Hall, the 10,000 seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Willow Island, the Arena, and nine modern agricultural exhibit buildings...

). Much of the Monsters merchandise is still sought after due to the colorful Monsters logo design. The team moved to Knoxville, Tennessee

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...

 before the 1999-2000 season. Team owner of both the Monsters and Knoxville Speed

Knoxville Speed

The Knoxville Speed was a UHL team which played from 1999-2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee with home ice at the James White Civic Coliseum. They were formerly the Madison Monsters, and in April 1999 team owner Andrew Wilhelm announced that the franchise would relocate to Knoxville due to low attendance...

 was Andrew Wilhelm. Brother Dan Wilhelm was also heavily involved with the Monsters. Wife Michele Wilhelm assisted with team merchandising.