The Expansion Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League continue to make history. They’re the first expansion team in all four major sports to clinch a division title (Pacific Division), they’re only the 3rd NHL team to clinch a playoff berth in their first season (joining Edmonton and Hartford) They set a record for most points by an expansion team with 84 (they finished with 109) and most recently, they became the first expansion team since the 1968-69 St. Louis Blues to earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.
So, the Golden Knights are only four wins away from a Stanley Cup Championship. In their first season. Move over Al Michaels, this right here is truly a Miracle!
Or is it? Face it: this is not your Grandfather’s expansion team which has always been made up of castoffs and minor-leaguers, but the Golden Knights selected quality talent in their expansion draft last summer: Former Pittsburgh Penguin Marc-Andre Fleury who won 3 Stanley Cups, also former Penguin enforcer Ryan Reeves & former Nashville Predators winger James Neal.
In the regular season, C William Karlsson led with 43 goals and 78 points and Fleury led with 29 wins and a 2.24 Goals Against Average (GAA) they breezed through the Stanley Cup playoffs and earned the Campbell Conference Trophy after eliminating the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 in the Western Conference Final.
A Stanley Cup Championship would be huge for the Knights as they continue to make history.
Please e-mail Ray at ray@urbanmediatoday.com
Follow him @urbanmediaRay on twitter