FANS SENT A MESSAGE TO OTHER LEAGUES

“This is the magic of sports. Anything can happen,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said before the game. “Because anything can happen, you have hope. That is what we try to give our fans every season.”

In borrowing a line from the Golden Knights, “Welcome to the impossible.”

Nobody, not in their wildest imagination, could have predicted the Golden Knights’ magic — both on the ice and with how the city has gone overboard in support of the team. Earlier Monday, for instance, fans started lining up at 5 a.m. outside the team’s practice facility just to watch the morning skate. It started at 11; they had to turn people away.

And, just think, we weren’t supposed to be a major professional sports city, remember?

“It was so loud out there, even for warm-ups,” Vegas’ Ryan Carpenter said of the atmosphere inside T-mobile Arena.

When the Golden Knights finally became a reality two years ago, I wrote about how this was a chance for residents to show other leagues what they have been missing by passing on Las Vegas all these years. If hockey succeeded, both in the standings and community, it could lead to more major sports.

“Let’s hope Foley and his group do it right and make it a success,” I wrote in June 2015, referring to Knights owner Bill Foley.

Not only did Foley and his group do it right, they quickly built a franchise with lasting power. We only support winners in Las Vegas, and the Golden Knights are three wins away from a championship. Win or lose in the final, they are the most beloved sports team in our city’s existence, even more than those Runnin’ Rebels of the yesteryear.

The Golden Knights sold out every game and are near the top in the league in apparel sales. When there’s a line to buy a Stanley Cup Final patch to sew onto your $200 Golden Knights sweater, you know you have got an over-the-top fan base.

“I don’t view the fact that an expansion team has done all the right things and has been committed to doing all the right things as a comment that the other teams aren’t,” said Bill Daly, the NHL’S deputy commissioner.

Whether you like or dislike having Vegas in the finals, you can’t ignore the bonus of the expansion team thriving. Hockey has found a home in a nontraditional market. What Vegas has done to bring more eyes on the sport can only help it further develop.

The Golden Knights are great for Vegas. And Vegas is even better for a sport whose record book is being rewritten.