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2000 - 2005
Total-e starts as main sponsor in the 2000 season. Kyle Peterson returned to Nijmegen for a second year and Dutch Canadian players like Bill Minkhorst and Adam Bonneveld were signed. However during the season Total-e went bankrupt which left Nijmegen again in heavy weather. Australian Homemade finished the season as main sponsor. Nijmegen was able to finish the season but was not able to win the championship for another year.
For the 2001-2002 season a company called "Max" became the main sponsor and Nijmegen was able to find some skilled Dutch canadian players such as Kevin Hoogsteen and import players such as Steve Nimigon and Carl Beaudoin. Nimigon was a Hartford Whalers draft pick and captained his OHL team Erie Otters in his last year as a junior.
However - despite these players - the start of the season was dramatic. Coach Paul Strople was fired after Nijmegen lost 11 of the first 14 games. Ben Tijnagel was asked to be acting-coach however the season ended with Nijmegen missing the play-offs.
For the 2002-2003 season Dana Knowlton was hired as head coach and max stayed on another year as main sponsor. From Canada Nijmegen was able to obtain Dutch Canadian players such as Bob Vandersluis and Matt Korthuis. From the Bracknell Bees in the UK Canadian center Doug Stienstra was acquired. Especially the arrival of Stienstra raised expectations. During his college years at Cornell (NCAA) Stiestra captained this team in addition to being a prolific goal scorer. Nijmegen was able to lure these players to The Netherlands through the scouting network of Danny Cuomo.
Father of Duch Canadian player Bob Vandersluis, Don, alo played for Nijmegen as a Dutch Canadian in the 1973-74 season. Also Import defenders Steve O'Brien and Sean Austin came over. Especially O'Brien came with high credentials having played in both the CHL and AHL for some years. However very much like the previous years Nijmegen ran into financial difficulties and coach Knowlton and other players left Nijmegen during the season. Despite the financial problems Nijmegen was able to acquire Jason Clark later that season who picked up from Knowlton as (playing) coach. Jason - being a highly skilled player with leadership qualities - also had a spell with DEL team Revier Lowen and some ECHL teams. Despite all the challenges throughout the season Nijmegen s
till made it to the play-off but lost the finals against the Boretti Tigers from Amsterdam. Unfortunately after this season Tommie Speel decided to retire from hockey.
The 2003-2004 season is without doubt one of the all-time low lights of Nijmegen. Due to the fact that Nijmegen faced financial difficulties in the years before it was unable to register for the 2003-2004 season.
In 2004 Nijmegen started completely from scratch again under the new name Nijmegen Emperors. A Nijmegen team with a lot of youngsters entered the Dutch league. Very similar as in the 1994-1995 season the team earned a lot of respect being able to compete with such a young group of players. Players like Bob Teunissen and Nick de Jong played for other teams during the previous year and came back more seasoned and experienced. Alexander Jacobs was appointed as a trainer / coach in addition to working on the Nijmegen youth program. Following Years.