Playoff schedule and notebook,

After Bill Foley agreed to pay a whopping $500 million for the right to put a hockey team in the middle of the Mojave Desert, the NHL decided his Golden Knights deserved a chance for a swift return on that investment.

If the other team owners had known how huge Foley’s reward would be — and how quickly he would get it — they probably wouldn’t have been quite so nice to the new guy.

It’s too late now, though. After reaping a bonanza from one of the most generous expansion drafts in sports history, the Golden Knights are two victories away from an unbelievable Stanley Cup Final berth.

A brand-new team in a league that has been around for 101 years already has a Pacific Division title, two playoff series victories and a 2-1 lead on the Jets in the Western Conference finals.

“I don’t think anybody saw us here,” Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “It’s been a lot of fun to be part of it. (I’m) really proud of this team and the way these guys have been working. We deserve to be here.”

Fleury and the other players accomplishing this feat call themselves the “Golden Misfits,” yet few of the team’s expansion-draft selections were truly undesired by the clubs that lost them 11 months ago.

Instead, general manager George McPhee took full advantage of his opportunities to compile an uncommonly talented roster, and coach Gerard Gallant turned that roster into a brilliant team in shockingly swift fashion.

“It had a big impact,” McPhee said of the expansion draft. “The rules were favorable. (They) gave us something to work with and gave this team an opportunity to be good.”

The NHL allowed teams to protect only seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or eight skaters and one goalie. By comparison, when the league last expanded in 2000 teams were allowed to protect nine forwards, five defensemen and a goalie, or seven forwards, three defensemen and two goalies.

The league also required teams to expose players with significant NHL experience who were under contract through next season, closing loopholes and helping the Golden Knights even more. Third-line forwards and top-four defensemen were available from almost every team.

The easiest acquisition was Fleury, a three-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie with 375 career victories. Other key pickups included forwards James Neal, a proven veteran talent with nine consecutive 20-goal seasons, and William Karlsson, who had yet to reach his full potential with two teams but recorded 43 goals for the Knights.

However, all of this talent wouldn’t have won so many games without Gallant.

“Gerard has done a terrific job of making this a team,” McPhee said. “He has really brought a lot of players along, and they’ve played better than they played anywhere else.”