Like 99.99 percent of the hockey world, I never imagined the Vegas Golden Knights would be four wins from becoming the National Hockey League’s 2018 champions.
I’m sure Geoff Freeman never thought the Golden Knights would be the last team standing in the way of his Washington Capitals winning its first Stanley Cup. Las Vegas owes Geoff a tremendous amount of gratitude. He was one of the early national supporters in favor of the city landing an NHL expansion franchise.
At the beginning of the season, I predicted 20 to 30 wins for the Golden Knights – tops. I figured veterans and upcoming free agents would be dealt at the league’s trade deadline for draft picks. Wrong.
The Golden Knights have built a foundation with young players, such as Alex Tuch, Erik Haula, Shea Theodore and William Karlsson, and veteran goalie Marc-André Fleury is rejuvenating his career. The team has developed a loyal local following.
T-Mobile Arena sells out regularly, locals pack the team’s practice arena, and you can’t go anywhere in Las Vegas without seeing someone wearing clothes with the Golden Knights logo.
In the inaugural year, the Golden Knights won 51 regular season games and the Pacific Division. In the playoffs, the team de-crowned the Kings, made sushi of the Sharks, and silenced Winnipeg’s white noise.
Now sits the Washington Capitals. As Canadian sports talk personality Ian Mendes wrote on Twitter; “The Stanley Cup Final will feature a morally bankrupt city that is built on corruption, greed & deceit against Las Vegas.”
The Golden Knights are an ESPN “30 for 30” documentary and a made-for-big-screen movie. This season is an incredible story – not just in the hockey world but the entire sports universe.
And it will continue.
There is something about a sports franchise rallying a city after tragedy. Just look to a year ago when Houston – devastated by Hurricane Harvey’s massive flooding – rallied as the Houston Astros won the World Series.
In the days following the October 1 shooting massacre, the Golden Knights helped Las Vegas recover. The team dedicated the home opener to first responders and survivors of the attack. In an emotional speech to conclude the ceremony, defenseman Deryk Engelland proclaimed, “We are Vegas Strong.”
The Capitals won the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1998. But the luck has run out. The Golden Knights will raise the Stanley Cup as champions of the NHL.
#GoKnightsGo.
