Unlikely contenders to meet for NHL’s prestigious prize

This year’s Stanley Cup Final features two franchises seeking their first championship: one team no one thought would win anything significant this season and another with many doubters of its own.

The Vegas Golden Knights, who a year ago did not have a roster, reached the finals in their inaugural season. The Washington Capitals have spent more than four decades on a roller-coaster ride — complete with plenty of nausea — that has yet to deliver them the Stanley Cup. Their only other final appearance was 20 years ago, when they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

Vegas was expected to be better than other recent expansion teams, but many picked the Golden Knights to finish last in the Pacific Division, behind wayward franchises such as Arizona and Vancouver. Vegas won the division handily and enjoys home-ice advantage in the finals.

Washington was also overlooked by most people this season, after years of disappointing playoff finishes during the Alex Ovechkin era. Last season’s team was considered the Capitals’ most talented, but after winning the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record by a wide margin, it lost in the second round of the playoffs. The Capitals lost key players in free agency and left their coach, Barry Trotz, with a lame-duck contract.

These teams took different routes to the same place, but they can trace their roots to the same man: George McPhee, who built the Golden Knights from the ground up and was the Caps’ general manager from 1997 to 2014.