Now before you roll your eyes and angrily close this tab, hear me out. The Knights are not so much a Cinderella story, as they are an abject success story. This expansionary franchise combined an incredible GM in George McPhee, who hired an incredible coach in Gerard Gallant, who then took individually incredible players and forged them into an even more incredible team. As Lightning coach Jon Cooper explains, “They were given a framework to work with, and they could’ve screwed it up or they could’ve done really well. And they chose to do really well. They played within the rules that were given to them and this is what you get.” While some may say that this expansion draft was more generous than in previous years, in that fewer players were able to be protected, George McPhee still attacked the system in a smart, savvy, perhaps even shrewd, way to create a dream team. He garnered additional picks and players before the draft even began, paving the way to the foundation of the team.
A year ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were little more than a color scheme, a viral Twitter account, and a yet-to-be-filled roster. Now, they’re riding some serious momentum into the Stanley Cup Finals. In the first round, they swept the LA Kings. In the second round, they beat the San Jose Sharks in six games, including an ugly 7-0 shutout. In the Western Conference Finals, facing their toughest opponent yet in the Winnipeg Jets, the Knights won the series in five games. And now they eagerly await the winner of the Lightning-Capitals series. Few people expected the Knights to be good, let alone this good. Almost nobody pegged them as Western Conference champions. And I can almost guarantee that not a single person envisioned their playoff run looking like a cakewalk down the Vegas Strip.
When the Knights’ roster finally was filled, many dismissed them as the players’ teams no longer wanted and in many cases, were actively seeking to send off. Several teams offered extra players as collateral to get rid of their own unwanted players. The Florida Panthers offered Jonathan Marchessault – who currently has 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists) in the playoffs, and leads all Golden Knights – to coax Vegas to take Reilly Smith – who sits just behind Marchessault with 16 points (2 goals, 14 assists). The Minnesota Wild offered Alex Tuch (9 points) to get rid of Erik Haula (7 points). The Pittsburgh Penguins sacrificed a second-round draft pick to convince Vegas to take Fleury – who, at age thirty-three, 14 years into his professional career, is posting a .947 save percentage in the playoffs, a career-high .927 save percentage in the regular season, and a career low in average goals against (2.24). (Not to mention he’s also serving as the heart, soul, backbone, and de facto captain of this team.) The Columbus Blue Jackets gave up a first and second-round draft pick to convince Vegas to take William Karlsson (13 points). The Knights took these players in, and in players like Karlsson, who put up 78 points (43 goals, 35 assists) in the regular season as compared to the six goals he scored with Columbus just a year prior, gave them a platform to perform far beyond any expectations.
The Knights have no regards for your brackets, for the history books, or for anyone’s expectations. On February 1, they became the winningest expansion team in NHL history with their 34th win of the season. On February 21, they broke the record for most points scored by an expansion team in their first season with their 84th point. On March 26, they became only the third expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season. On March 31, they became the first modern era expansion team to win their division in their inaugural season – not only in hockey but in each of the four major sports. On April 17, they became the first team in NHL history to sweep the first round playoff series in their first season. On May 20, they became only the second team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals since the St. Louis Blues in 1968 (though in 1968, the NHL consisted of twelve teams, and eight of those made the playoffs).
But beyond all the records and the milestones and the rewriting of the history books, perhaps the greatest success of these Knights is the bond they’ve already cemented with the city of Las Vegas. The Knights held their home opener just nine days after the city was rattled by a gunman who opened fire during a country music festival at Mandalay Bay, less than a mile from T-Mobile Arena. 58 lives were lost and nearly 500 were wounded, but Vegas rebounded and brought 26 first responders out onto the ice to honor their heroics and also to reaffirm their commitment to the city. Defenseman Deryk Engelland, who had long held his offseason home in Vegas, took the mic: “We’ll do everything we can to help you and our city heal. We are Vegas Strong.” Just months later in March, the number 58 was lifted to the rafters in a heartfelt ceremony honoring those who had lost their lives but can now be immortalized as part of the team.
The Knights are undoubtedly the greatest story in the NHL. They could even be considered the greatest expansion story in all of professional sports. The Vegas Golden Knights opened the season with 500-1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup, and now they stand just four wins away from defying those odds.
As they won the Western Conference, the Knights were presented with the Campbell Bowl. The alternate captain, veteran Deryk Engelland immediately hoisted the trophy for his teammates, challenging the superstition that those who touch the conference trophy won’t win the Cup. Marchessault said after the game that they had spoken about touching the trophy beforehand and revealed they didn’t really harbor those superstitions: “We went against the odds all year… We’re going to keep doing what we do best and that’s proving people wrong.” This band of “Golden Misfits” has spent the entire season proving the sporting world wrong, and along the way, they’ve created a culture built on hope, community, and of course, just a bit of Vegas magic.
The Vegas Golden Knights will open the Stanley Cup Finals on Memorial Day – Monday, May 28 – against the Washington Capitals.
Editor’s Note: All pictures are under license with CC BY-SA 4.0, and were captured by Michael Miller.
