The Vegas Golden Knights have officially completed what seems like an impossibility in the world of sports, winning it all. After finishing off the series over the Florida Panthers, the Vegas Golden Knights are officially NHL Stanley Cup Champions. It was a dominating performance closing it out 9-2, not even close. The house, always wins.
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Improbable
What makes this story all the more fascinating is that Vegas is an expansion team from 2017. For them to go from nothing to kings all within a handful of years makes this story all the more magical. This expansion team was the first major men’s pro team in the city, ultimately paving the way for other teams like the Raiders and perhaps others? It speaks to the entire organizations dedication to turn what typically happens with expansion teams into a cinderella story.
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Misfits
When an expansion team enters the league, other teams have the ability to ‘protect’ their preferred players. This leaves a handful of names exposed for the expansion team to draft from the remaining pile. Generally, this can leave a sour taste in the mouths of a few and thus the label ‘misfits’ was born.
Of those original batch of players who were picked, six remain. Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb and William Carrier. “Since they came in 2017,” notes Mark Stone, “they changed the city in a good way,” per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. As they hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup, one couldn’t help but wonder, who’s laughing now?
Vegas Party
It’s going to be all celebrations from here as the Knights got to savour the moment on home ice in front of their home crowd. Like everything else about this organization, they’ve done it their way and they’ve become kings of the castle.
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Feature image by AP/Abbie Par
