If you are one that likes a good story in sports, well, do I have one for you. The Vegas Golden Knights just completed their first season in the NHL and weren’t even supposed to be in the playoff picture this season. Well, they completely defied all odds. The Golden Knights, led by veteran head coach Gerard Gallant and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, became the first NHL team since the 1979-80 Edmonton Oilers and Hartford Whalers to make the playoffs in their inaugural season. Vegas had 109 total points, good for second overall in the Western Conference and the fifth overall best record in the entire National Hockey League. With a brand new team, the NHL has a way of getting players through something called the NHL Expansion Draft, which the team selects one player from each team and Marc-Andre Fleury, former goalie of the Pittsburgh Penguins, was one of the first players taken in the draft.
Their very first home game took place soon after this past year’s shooting in Las Vegas, so it was a great time for a new sports team to come into the picture in order to bring together one large city like Las Vegas. The game was against the Arizona Coyotes and was nationally televised. I watched that game and it was one of the more emotional intros I have ever seen in a sporting event and I have seen quite a few different sporting events.
I, for one, was also shocked with the Golden Knights’ success, as was most hockey fans. A couple months ago, I was at Buffalo Wild Wings watching a Capitals/Penguins game and also at the same time, the Golden Knights were playing in Minnesota against the Wild. I was sitting with a Penguins fan and a Capitals fan watching our game and he told me how much he missed Marc-Andre Fleury in a Penguins uniform because Fleury was their goalie for over 10 years. “The Golden Knights are now my second favorite hockey team,” he told me.
The Golden Knights are fresh off a 4-game sweep of the Los Angeles Kings and are getting ready for a second round matchup with the San Jose Sharks, who also just swept their previous opponent. This will definitely be one of the best series to keep an eye on because Vegas and San Jose are two teams who had great success in the postseason, so we will see if the Golden Knights can keep their magical season alive.
Photo from ESPN