Born of anxiety and tragedy and ultimately triumphant, the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers 9-3 Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to win their first Stanley Cup in just six seasons. won the championship.
The No. 1-seeded Western Conference Knights overwhelmed the No. 8-seeded Panthers in five games with their fast, sharp elbow offense. The Knights, along with the Panthers, made it to the finals for the second time.
But while the Panthers came within a round of the championship for the first time since 1996, the Knights were the second fastest of any team in the expansion era that began in 1967 to reach the Stanley Cup. followed by the Edmonton Oilers. He won the cup in his fifth season in the league. (The Oilers played seven seasons in the World Hockey Association before joining the NHL.)
“We’ve waited a long time for that moment to come back, and we wanted to make sure we made a profit,” said the Panthers in the expansion draft, originally one of the “misfits” from the Panthers. Las Vegas winger Jonathan Marcheso said. The first season of Vegas. “This team has been incredible from the start.”
After the game, captain Mark Stone hoisted the cup and handed it to Riley Smith, another Panthers alumnus from the first season. He gave it to Marcheseau, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff’s Most Valuable Player.
Game 5 got off to an unstable start, but the Golden Knights took the lead at about 12 minutes into the first period. Stone scored a short goal without an assist after Las Vegas goaltender Addin Hill stopped Florida center Alexander Barkov. Vegas scored again less than two minutes later.
In the second period, Las Vegas scored four points in less than 10 minutes, including Stone’s second, to build an unbreakable lead. The Panthers were playing without leading scorer Matthew Tkachuk, who was injured in Game 4. But Vegas were clearly a hungry team.
Knights fans, energized by a raucous in-house DJ, cheerleaders and a glitzy light show, spent the third period preparing for a frenetic celebration they could hardly have imagined just six years ago. did
NHL history is littered with failed franchises. extended club. A team migrating to a new market. The team that moved again. Remember the Cleveland Barons? Kansas City Scouts? Minnesota North Stars?
So it’s no wonder critics were skeptical when Commissioner Gary Bettman held a press conference at a Las Vegas hotel in 2016 to announce that the city would be home to the league’s 31st team, the Golden Knights.under the influence of outside temperature peak is 108 degreesBettmann answered a question about the viability of a professional hockey team in a desert city where many of its residents are retirees or work night shifts.
Host of minor league hockey team Including Gamblers, Outlaws, Aces, Thunders and Ice Dice – have struggled in Las Vegas. Moving from Winnipeg to Arizona for the 1996-97 season, the Coyotes’ financial situation deteriorated to the point that the NHL had to take over the team at one point. Perhaps hockey was never meant to be played in the desert.
Still, Bettmann pointed to the city’s growing population and reputation for entertainment.
“We think this is a very exciting opportunity, not just for Las Vegas, but for the league,” he said.
There were also questions about adding franchises to a city known for legal sports betting, long shunned by sports leagues, including the NHL. Bettmann said betting on hockey was not as popular as football, so the threat of players throwing the game was minimal.
“We are not concerned about the integrity of the game,” said Bettmann.
After all, Bettmann should have funded the team before they grabbed the ice for the first time. The Knights seemingly overcame every obstacle thrown at them in the first season. More than 14,000 season tickets were sold before the team was named. The team moved to the T-Mobile Arena, which had already opened on the Strip.
But after the team’s final preseason game, a gunman opened fire on a nearby concert at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, about a mile south of the arena, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds. The team’s players, who were due to show up at the next day’s rally, brought the city to life.they fanned out The entire community thanked police officers, donated blood and donated tens of thousands of dollars to help victims, their families and emergency medical workers.
Their response struck a chord with the stunned and grieving residents of the city. And surprisingly, the Knights made an epic breakthrough. Led by a goal from three-time Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury, the team started the season with a 500-to-1 long shot to win the Stanley Cup. Still, they scored 109 points in the regular season and had a winning percentage of .622, both well off the team’s league records in their first year. They advanced through the first three rounds of the playoffs, defeating the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Winnipeg Jets, and winning Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Washington Capitals. The team lost the next four games and the series, but left a mark unlike any other.
“The team wrapped up the city, and the city wrapped up the team,” longtime Las Vegas resident Brad Creel told me before the team’s final game that season.
The WNBA ace came from San Antonio in 2018 and the Raiders from Oakland, Calif. a few years later, and now the Athletics are also looking for a stadium in the city. This confirms the NHL’s hunch. As the 40th largest media market in the US, it has the potential to support major sports teams.
But Knights are now regulars.they made it to the playoffs 5 of 6 seasonsand despite long-term prospects, showed the sports world that Las Vegas can support professional sports teams and that teams can thrive.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Las Vegas center Jack Eichel. “This is a really special organization and I feel really happy to be a part of it. I really enjoy coming to the rink again.”
Asked what kind of parties are planned in Las Vegas, Marcheseau replies with a grin. probably a big one. “