Never Bet Against the House

First off, I must give kudos to the Vegas Golden Knights from their owner Bill Foley to the fans – what an unbelievable, well-deserved season. The top team in the Pacific Division, despite 500-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, have created yet another chapter in their already historic season. Really, I am almost loss for words with how to acknowledge the greatness this team has displayed all year long. But here they are, four wins away from winning the most prized possession (and possibly the hardest to earn) in all of sports: the Stanley Cup. Better yet for Vegas, it’s in their inaugural season, the first of hopefully many decades to come.

But there are some talks around the hockey world that paints the Golden Knights portrait in a negative light, which is downright shameful. Is this a bad look for the NHL? NO!!!!!! In fact, this is a great look for the NHL. This should give the league hope that it won’t take a new potential expansion team (which would give the league an even amount of teams again at 32… talking to you Seattle) to take three to six years to get the franchise on their feet. This gives fans confidence that they can go and enjoy a game and root for the new local team in hopes that they aren’t the next Buffalo Sabres team. Vegas was able to get 14,000+ season ticket holders to buy in to the franchise to kick start the building of the team, which would allow a new team to build an arena that could potentially hold 20-22,000 fans and see if the community in which they add a team would be willing to buy 15-16,00 season tickets. In any major market, fans have to wait five, six, maybe even ten years to attain season tickets for themselves/their family. Vegas generated serious revenue when the NHL decided to put a team in the city of sin, a major entertainment destination for people all around the world. Aside from tickets, all future NHL teams can have confidence in the expansion draft. Teams were required to submit either seven forwards/three defensemen/a goalie or eight players (forwards or defensemen) and a goalie. All players that had a “no movement” clause in their contract and all first or second year players were ineligible to be part of the expansion draft. Which means, most of the current teams were able to protect their core group of players. So, the roster Vegas complied in the expansion draft was fair game. They got Marc-Andre Fleury because Pittsburgh was willing to stick with Matt Murray instead. Vegas got William Karlsson because Columbus didn’t recognize the potential he had. They selected Jonathan Marchessault because Florida is dumb, and, oh by the way, they traded Reilly Smith to the Knights for a fourth-round pick because again, Florida is dumb. Imagine the amount of skilled players that would be available in the next expansion draft? It could be scary.

Also, a quick side note, this is a reflection of how a team plays when they are counted out from the start, adding fuel to the fire. Vegas’s success isn’t saying the rest of the NHL is weak. “The league is rigged, this is what the NHL wanted all along.” Get out of here with that B.S. – how can hockey be rigged? What are they going to do, give Marc-Andre Fleury a game misconduct for playing the puck out of the trapezoid, then suspend him? Seriously, the officials aren’t out there to throw a game to one team or the other. The players compete at the highest level because they have the talent to do so. Hockey is the hardest sport to make a prediction, especially in the playoffs. These players work their ass off and push their bodies to the limit. Upsets happen all the time. Simply put, teams that win the Cup always are the better, harder playing team.

Give me another reason people for how this is a problem that Vegas is in the Stanley Cup Final. Any reason, and I will find a way to fight it. I counted this team out just like many others have. Hockey experts that cover the league for a career counted them out. Is that not enough proof that the league is nearly impossible to predict? I have given credit to Vegas for their regular season accomplishments, I root for them when watching on TV, but I also tempered my expectations when it came to the playoffs. Now what? Looks like they’re going to win the whole damn thing. Dammit, I hope they do. They are 12-3 during these playoffs and have beaten a former dynasty in the Los Angeles Kings, a stud group in the San Jose Sharks, and one of the predicted Cup Champions (my pick as well) in Winnipeg. Excellent work Vegas, keep it up, you have grabbed the city and the NHL by its balls and have yet to let go. “Vegas Strong” is legit. I give the team all the respect I have to give, and so should you.