‘UNFATHOMABLE’ WHAT VEGAS HAS DONE
Executives marvel at how Golden Knights became an NHL success in their first year
Embarrassing or exhilarating — the most unusual Stanley Cup final in history is about to begin with a question being asked around the hockey world.
Is the appearance of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights absolutely mortifying for the National Hockey League and the franchises who aren’t playing for the Cup or is this good for NHL business?
The truth is it is a little both. It is marvellous and preposterous, impossible and ridiculous, spectacular and magnificent and, yes, absolutely shocking still — after three remarkable playoff rounds and, maybe more remarkable, just three playoff games lost along the way.
“They’ve broken every template that’s ever been constructed on hockey,” said Doug Armstrong, general manager of the St. Louis Blues. The Blues are one of 13 modern-era NHL teams that have never won the Cup. They haven’t been in the final in 48 years.
How could Armstrong explain to a Blues fan that their team is out of the playoffs and the Knights are playing for the Cup.
“I don’t know how I would do that. The reality is they’re not supposed to be here, they’re not supposed to be this good. I don’t say this with envy. I say this with excitement. I’m hooked on the story.”
He may well be hooked on the story, as are many of his management colleagues around the NHL contacted by Postmedia, all of whom provided the Golden Knights with the players performing at such a high level. But for fans in established markets like St. Louis, like Toronto, where the Maple Leafs have not won a Cup since the NHL was a six-team league, there is a sense of awe and an accompanying exasperation over the lofty state of the Vegas franchise. Why them? Why not us?
In all, 13 of the NHL’s 31 franchises have never won the Cup. Four franchises have never played for it. In an established market such as Philadelphia, the Flyers, considered hugely successful over time, haven’t won the title since 1975. Lou Lamoriello’s new team in Long Island hasn’t won a Cup since 1983 or played for one since 1984 — 34 years ago. And the Maple Leafs, the team he just left, last won in 1967, 51 years ago. John Davidson’s Columbus Blue Jackets have never made it to a Cup final.
David Poile has worked in the NHL since 1972, 46 years in all. He’s been very successful, but has never won a championship.
The Washington Capitals, the one team left standing between Vegas and a parade, are among the 13 that have never celebrated with a parade in late June.
“It’s unfathomable what they’re doing,” said Poile, general manager of the Nashville Predators, last year’s finalists, forever chasing the Cup. “Regardless of what anyone says about the rules being favourable and all that went their way, this is not a fluke. What George McPhee and Gerard Gallant have done this year is something worth studying. They were one of the most consistent teams all year long. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, this is a really good hockey team.
“How did it happen? I don’t know if I can answer that. They have six defencemen who played in the NHL last year and none were top-pairing guys on any of their teams. They weren’t top four in most cases. And it’s working, somehow it’s working. Whether it’s system, coaching, confidence, pairings, playing fast, whatever they are doing, it’s working.”
You wouldn’t blame Davidson if he was just a little jealous of the Las Vegas story when considering his path as an NHL executive. Twice, once in St. Louis and now in Columbus, he has started with teams that had hit rock bottom.
“It’s a painful, arduous process to try and build your team,” said Davidson, the president of the Blue Jackets. This year is maybe more painful. Columbus led Washington 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. “We hit five goalposts or could have been up 3-0. They won and they deserved to win. But it hurts.
“With Vegas, what you’re finding is it’s the team that wins. This is a team. It’s four lines. It’s six defencemen. How many times have they given up a goal and then come right back and got one? That’s a sign of mental toughness and they have that. That’s what’s impressed me. I watch and I’m almost numb to it. Here they come again. For me to see it, you try to read, you try to watch, you try to learn. What can we learn from them?
“You always hear teams saying they need a captain. They don’t have a captain. You need a top defenceman. I’m not sure they have a top defenceman. They have four lines of balance and they keep throwing them at you. Two words I learned as a broadcaster working for John Shannon: how and why. How did this happen and why? We as an industry have to look at them and learn and ask how the hell did this happen?”
For the Blue Jackets, it is particularly galling that they made what they thought was a terrific deal with the Golden Knights, getting them to take David Clarkson’s salary, and in a complicated deal protect Josh Anderson, while Vegas wound up with William Karlsson, who went on to score 43 goals for the Knights. Columbus didn’t view Karlsson as a big-time scorer and have been left answering questions all season long.
“You never know when it’s going to happen for any player,” said Davidson. “No one in their right mind expected it here. He’s a good kid and congratulations to him. But whatever they’ve done and whatever he’s done, what a story. We’ve talked a lot about William here. How did this happen? Jarmo (Kekalainen, the general manager) and Torts (coach John Tortorella) have had extensive discussions about what happened here, what we did, was it just fate or bad luck? You have to study it. You have to wonder.”
Lamoriello was like a lot of us. He kept waiting for the Golden Knights to fail. Oh, they started well, but the new boss of the Islanders didn’t think it would last. “I kept thinking, ‘This wasn’t for real. It couldn’t last.’ Then I went out there for our game (with the Leafs) on New Year’s Eve. I watched them.
I saw how they played and how they competed. I said to myself, ‘They’re for real.’ ”