West Point hosts Vegas Golden Knights team, Stanley Cup
The sporting world’s most iconic trophy found its way to West Point’s Trophy Point on Wednesday.
The famed Stanley Cup – presented annually to the NHL champion – made its rounds of the U.S. Military Academy on a visit by the Vegas Golden Knights. The team is in the midst of a threegame road trip in the metropolitan region and made a special visit on an off day.
Vegas owner and billionaire Bill Foley, 79, is a 1967 graduate of West Point and 2016 recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award. He accompanied the players and management on a tour of the post.
From the poop deck of the Cadet Mess Hall, Golden Knights’ team captain Mark Stone lifted the Cup for all the cadets to see, drawing great applause. Foley briefly addressed the Corps of Cadets. From there, the Vegas and Army teams ate lunch together in the Regimental Room and posed for photographs. Army coach Brian Riley addressed the Vegas team in a conference hall.
The Stanley Cup made its rounds for photos. At Trophy Point, Foley posed with the Cup alongside the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which the Army football team recently won with victories over Air Force and Navy. The Stanley Cup also made stops at Tate Rink and Michie Stadium.
“We spent the day on the grounds of West Point with Bill Foley and the @StanleyCup! Thank you for having us today, @WestPoint_USMA!” said a Golden Knights social media posting on X/Twitter. At the rink, the Cup was placed at center ice with a West Point graduate photo of Foley on the scoreboard in the background.
“Black Knights, Golden Knights” with a hands-linked icon appeared on the Army Hockey Twitter. “Grateful to host Bill Foley, @GoldenKnights and the @StanleyCup today!”
“A great day hosting the @GoldenKnights and the @StanleyCup here at @WestPoint_UMSA. Thankful to their owner and West Point Graduate Bill Foley for making this happen’’ wrote Brian Riley on his Twitter feed.
“Two of the greatest trophies in sports together at West Point!’’ chimed in the Army football Twitter feed, with a smiling Foley posed with the two trophies, in front of the Battle Monument.
West Point leadership and athletic director Mike Buddie presented Foley with a gift.
On Tuesday, Vegas right winger Jonathan Marchessault told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the team was looking forward to the visit.
“When it means a lot for your owner and you have such a great owner, it goes through the whole organization,’’ he said. “We want to be there for him and I think it will be fun to be a part of it for sure.’’
Founded as an NHL expansion team in 2017, the Golden Knights were actually named as a tribute to West Point, whose athletic teams are known as the Black Knights – it was reported at that time that Foley wanted to also use “Black Knights” but was dissuaded by legal trademark challenges.
West Point actually has a long association with the NHL. A number of teams utilized Tate Rink for mini preseason training camps: the Devils in 1985, 2016 and 2017; the Flyers in 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2008); the Penguins in 2007 and 2013; the Rangers in 2005, 2007); the Sabres in 1985; and, the Panthers in 2005, 2007, 2016.
Army hockey dropped a pair of games to academy rival Air Force last weekend. Army will host Royal Military College – its Canadian military academy counterpart – on Saturday. kmcmillan@th-record.com
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR