When the Vegas Golden Knights were put together, we knew they weren't going to be your typical expansion team. We knew this team had a chance to be competitive and thought they might have an outside chance at the playoffs. Nobody expected this, though. Not only are they headed to the playoffs, they won the Pacific Division going away, and they're among the handful of teams that you'd have to consider legitimate Cup contenders. The '62 Mets they are not.
People have been calling Vegas the "best expansion team ever" for most of the season, and it's hard to argue. Sure, the St. Louis Blues made it to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season of existence, but that comes with an asterisk since the NHL put all six expansion teams in the same conference, guaranteeing one would make the Final. But this is unprecedented. The Golden Knights have been winning at a ridiculous clip all year. And they've broken the mold for what expansion teams consider "reasonable" expectations.
Now, most of the recent expansion teams across all sports have found success fairly quickly. The Panthers (Carolina) and Jaguars both made it to the conference championship game in their second season, the Diamondbacks won the NL West in their second, and the Panthers (Florida) played for the Stanley Cup in their fourth. We also saw the Marlins and Diamondbacks win the World Series within five years.
The Chicago Fire (which, by the way, is my favorite TV show), meanwhile, are the real expansion standard bearers. They won both the MLS Cup and US Open Cup in their inaugural season. But, that was just the third season of MLS, when the league was nowhere near what it is now.
What the Golden Knights have done is something different entirely, though. They were set up well with a very generous expansion draft format (getting a three-time Cup-winning franchise goalie didn't exactly hurt). But, Marc-Andre Fleury aside, the players made available to them weren't exactly stars. Expansion teams are constructed, essentially, from the other teams' rejects, and this wasn't really any different.
It just turns out that these "rejects" were pretty good. What's more, they all felt like they had a chip on their shoulder because their previous team didn't want them (or, in some cases, couldn't keep them), and they played like it. Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson have turned into stars, and Gerard Gallant has to be the favorite for Coach of the Year as Vegas has broken record after record.
I wish I knew what their secret is, but I'm not even sure that they do. I think it was a fortunate combination of many factors. A lot of people have credited their incredible home record to the "Vegas factor," suggesting that opposing players might be enjoying their time in Sin City a little too much. This is also the first pro team in a market that was desperate for a team to call its own. And the tragedy that struck Las Vegas on October 1, just days before the Knights' first game, further strengthened that bond between this brand new team and the city it represents.
Meanwhile, Bill Foley is quickly establishing himself as one of the best owners in sports. He doesn't want T-Mobile Arena overrun with opposing fans during the playoffs, so the Golden Knights made all their season ticket holders sign a pledge not to sell their playoff tickets. In return, they pay a much cheaper price for playoff tickets than they otherwise would. They don't have to sign the pledge. But if they don't, they don't get the discount.
Foley took it a step further, too (which actually makes pretty good business sense considering the "don't sell your tickets" pledge). Fans don't have to pay for their first-round tickets until after the fact. They'll be sent an invoice after the playoffs are over, but don't have to pay anything upfront (at least for the first round).
Whether or not there will be future rounds of the playoffs for Golden Knights fans to attend is anyone's guess. As we all know, winning in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a vastly different proposition than winning during the NHL regular season. But, with a veteran of three Cup-winning Penguins teams in goal, you've gotta think their chances of advancing at least one round are pretty good.
Frankly, though, does it really matter? The Knights could get swept in the first round and it will take absolutely nothing away from this incredible season. The NHL gambled on a franchise in Las Vegas, and they hit the jackpot (sorry, I couldn't resist the Vegas puns).
But I doubt anyone pictured it going this well. Suddenly, Bill Foley's "playoffs in three, Stanley Cup in six" prediction doesn't look so crazy. In fact, he wasn't giving his team nearly enough credit. Because they're two years ahead of schedule.
Best expansion team in history? Without a doubt! And it's really not even that close.
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