Golden Knights | The Most AMAZING Expansion Team In NHL History

[@TheLinc78]

If you’re not a local you’ll never know just how much this team means to this city. The bond is unbreakable. GO KNIGHTS GO!!!

[@frenchfrey65]

Game 1 to that 2018 Stanley cup final game was the greatest hockey game I ever saw! 4 lead changes, a stanley cup record, 10 total goals, a stanley cup game 1 record, it had drama, it had controversy, amazing saves, ridiculous goals and highlights, it had EVERYTHING! I'm currently wearing a Golden Knights hoodie celebrating them winning the cup that I got not long after their 1st Stanley Cup finals appearance. I'm from WI, we don't have NHL sadly, but I've rooted for them from the get go because of that amazing hollywood story book season they had in 2017.

[@Sierrab11]

You can’t find a car that doesn’t have a knight sticker on it in this city, they healed us through a terrible time, we love them unlike anything I’ve ever seen. All hail Bill Foley.

[@eriklakeland3857]

The initial group of guys (and the coach) were such a likable bunch. I thought the team (and franchise as a whole) would fail miserably, but I was captivated by how they earned their way to the Stanley Cup Final.

[@rainydays516]

How they failed miserably?

[@wikoli-kuloloniele-kapalam2779]

Failed miserably?! They're a baby team who's only 6 years old but was able to make playoffs every season except last year and capture many fans around world and their fan base is still growing each seasons! They have fan base all the way to the Philippines and Japan! Vegas loves them and they're very involved in the community, they have a TV shows in Vegas and Hawaii. Those are accomplishments of people loving, winning the hearts of many, nothing failure about that!!!

[@rainydays516]

@Wikoli-Kulolo Niele-Kapalama You taking to me? I didn't say they fail...the OP did, I was asking how

[@wikoli-kuloloniele-kapalam2779]

​@@rainydays516I edited my response my bad

[@CONSOLETRUTH2]

​@@rainydays516 op said he THOUGHT they would fail.....THOUGHT....never said they did.

[@Fiddlestiiicks]

Great video. This team means so much to us locals.

[@slasher1087]

I always did like when people said Vegas was handed a team😂. Not a single person thought Vegas would be good even after the draft. Funny how the narrative of they were handed a team didn't manifest during the draft but only after they won games.

[@EastCoastMikeP]

They were handed a team...by a number of GMs who didn't figure it out until it was too late. And sometimes not even then. George McPhee found a huge flaw in the "common knowledge" of what won in the NHL six years ago and came up with a plan to build a team that could take advantage of that flaw. The real problem is that most of the other GMs didn't realize what he was doing and played right into his hands as a result. Florida handed them what ended up being 2/3rds of Vegas's top line with Smith and Marchessault so they wouldn't take Alex Petrovic. Columbus handed them Karlsson, a first-round, and a second-round pick to take David Clarkson's LTIR contract, which was an obscene overpay. Other GMs made mistakes which allowed the Knights to craft their roster the way they wanted. It was a masterclass in roster building from McPhee, and that allowed Vegas to be competitive out of the gate. Whenever I hear that "handed a team" line, I go, "Yeah, because the other GMs handed it to them. Not Vegas's fault the rest of the league acted stupid."

[@slasher1087]

@michaelpagnotta7059 you can't argue that they were handed a team when #1 everyone said they would suck. Great teams are great teams even on paper. #2 if all GMs in the league are idiots except 1 then why are they GMs in the first place? #3 you aren't handed a great player because one year he got 9 goals and the next he got 40+. He was dumped on them. If you draft a player that literally nobody is talking about thats not being handed anything. Literally. Those players were nothing before Vegas. If McPhee looked at all these guys and thought this would make a good team and the majority of all of them were 3rd line or less, that's not being handed a great team. If you mean they were handed a team because they literally picked players from other teams then yes. Like literally every draft before that they were handed players but people need to stop acting like they knew this was a quality team year 1. Not a single anylist, announcer, yourube personality, betting line, or fan said oh hey, Vegas drafted Brad Hunt and Jon Merrill, that will surely be one of the best defenses in the league.

[@EastCoastMikeP]

@@slasher1087 Yeah, I probably overstated things. And you're absolutely right that nobody thought the Knights would be any good. But with hindsight, we can see that McPhee put on a masterclass of roster building and that there were some (not all) GMs who made some questionable-to-idiotic decisions (Columbus and Florida are at the forefront of making stupid decisions. Pittsburgh giving a second-rounder to the Knights to guarantee they'd take Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the questionable moves). McPhee knew what he wanted, recognized that speed was greatly undervalued at the time, and built a team that based itself on speed and relentless pressure, in the process finding players that fit the mold of what he wanted like Smith, Marchessault, and Karlsson. Yes, those guys didn't appear to be top-tier players, but they just weren't in a place where their talents could flourish, and McPhee recognized that and acted accordingly. As for being "given" the roster, I mean it in the sense that some (again, not all) of the GMs in the NHL played right into McPhee's hands and allowed him to acquire enough talent and depth to be immediately competitive. I don't mean it in the sense that the NHL rigged everything in Vegas's favor.

[@Joe_Ma99]

Honestly, both VGK and Seattle were handed teams. The previous expansion teams did not get anywhere near that level of talent.

[@slasher1087]

@Drakkar_Noir none of the previous expansion teams paid as much, Vegas didn't get any of the expansion money for the Seattle expansion, and they didn't choose any of the "best" players from any of the teams. There really are people on here saying Vegas had a full team of 1st and 2nd line players when it's verifiably false. And how can you say Seattle was handed a team when they sucked in year 1? Just like how everyone thought Vegas would. The "they were handed a team" argument onky came about because they won games with thr players that nobody else wanted.

[@chrisneely3069]

This team brought the city together when it needed it most Such an iconic first year run

[@pnaygirl1925]

I cried watching this. I will never forget that time. Thank you for this.

[@eriklakeland3857]

Would’ve like a mention of the crazy amount of goalie injuries. Everyone thought that the wheels would come off their hot start, but they weathered the storm.

[@elosogonzalez8739]

The aftermath of the mass shooting, the City of Las Vegas desperately need something to rally around. With the success of the Golden Knights in now on the verge of bringing Lord Stanley's Cup to the Las Vegas Strip! I'm so happy for the fans, and the players(both former and present). As a resident of Glendale, Arizona(the former home of the Coyotes) I'm proud to say I am now a fan of THE LAS VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS!!! I can hardly wait to sport my new Stanley Cup Championship hat! FINISH THE JOB BOYS!

[@Zorlixx]

Great video man! This team changed my life here. I grew up loving the caps and playing in Vegas but hockey wasn't much of a thing here but to watch them go on a run against my newly favorite team was crazy to watch. and the mark that they've made here is incredible. Thanks for making this video!

[@coastaku1954]

I'm a Leafs Fan but I really have nothing against Vegas. I went there on Vacation and left with a $300 personalized jersey

[@skeletonrebellion]

As a former Las Vegan who lived there from the mid-70s to the early-80s, I remember watching UNLV football and basketball games on TV and seeing the Las Vegas Quicksilvers play at the old Silver Bowl when they were in the now-defunct NASL and thinking 'will Sin City ever add another pro team to this dusty gambling town?". Now I'm glad to see the town finally get a successful NHL team that went to the Stanley Cup finals in their first year of existence and an NFL team to boot, except it shouldn't be the Raiders, it should be the expansion Las Vegas Gamblers, but I digress. If they play their cards right (no pun intended) throughout the playoffs, the G-Knights could bring Vegas their first-ever Stanley Cup championship since the 1989-1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels won the NCAA title that permanently put Vegas on the sporting world map.

[@romiarkan450]

And best of all they're a real Vegas team not some franchise which originally opened shop elsewhere (talking about you, Raiders and A's)

[@wikoli-kuloloniele-kapalam2779]

Vegas born!! Love them!

[@M_11_m41n]

I can only imagine if they had actually won the Stanley Cup that year and they kept the 2017-18 core together, only acquiring Robin Lehner and Mark Stone.

[@WM3ME]

Dam dude that would be narly

[@blooj249]

And now they just won the cup in less than 6 years

[@CONSOLETRUTH2]

Whats rezlly cool was that, from Christmas til the end 9f the season, Vegas was in and stayed in first place in the Pacific division!!!

[@zap_sigma1]

Have been a fan since 6/22/16, the day VGK came into existence bc I wanted to experience rooting for a Franchise from day one. I caught the fever with no cure & don't want one. VGK forever. Game 5 of the '23 Stanley Cup Finals, I was standing in front of the tv, in the living room of which I am posting rn, screaming my head off & going crazy as they won the Cup in only year 6. It was one of the most personal experiences I have ever gone through. I like this year's squad too. Let's go get #2. #Vegas Worldwide GO KNIGHTS! GO!!

[@NOTLeavingLV]

No one that lives here every says “we live in Las Vegas.” It’s always just Vegas. The VGK ownership knew this, hence being just the Vegas golden knights. Ty for the video. The CFL was here. The XFL was here too. The nhl was not indeed the first pro sports team. And the T-Mobile arena is on the strip. Not west of it.

[@MarGabArchive]

Well, the NHL is the first of the "Big Four" sports leagues to expand to Vegas.

[@ChristiantrospectiveGamer]

Vegas should have won the Cup year one and gone down in history as the greatest sports story of all time.

[@scizorbullet8185]

I love vgk and how hated they are its fun being the villian

[@jacobduperon472]

What they did was incredible. I was fortunate enough to catch a knights game during my visit a couple years ago.

[@coastaku1954]

Missed 2 things there: It's the Vegas Golden Knights because yes Nevada is a large Gold producer, but also because the London Knights in the OHL already existed. They initially wanted Vegas Knights but my London Knights would have created confusion. And it's no Las Vegas because a 4 word team name is too long, I never agreed with the Locals thing, I'm from London and I've always called it Vegas

[@YaoboyProd2K15]

Now a cup contender that just won the Stanley cup recently.

[@gymrat2647]

Go Knights Go from New Zealand

[@BC-ks9bm]

Great video! Excellent breakdown and presentation. Keep it up! ❤ New subscriber here.

[@bretthadfield]

The “golden knights” is more or less a nod tward foley’s alma mater (west point) which has a mascot of the black knight and there colors are black and gold

[@fadercreek]

wait till the nba mlb and mls get there vegas is gonna be crazy

[@CONSOLETRUTH2]

Most here in Vegas DO NOT WANT an NBA team. Why you ask? Just look up damages incurred during the 2007 NBA all star weekend and you will know why.

[@MarGabArchive]

@@CONSOLETRUTH2 That was in 2007 though. Vegas nowadays hosts the NBA Summer League and even a WNBA team that won the championship last season. Although it has potential, I still doubt of an NBA team coming to Vegas.

[@alvininthechipmonks]

God i can't wait for an NBA team

[@ariccua6101]

All right, who's here after they won the Cup?!

[@blooj249]

I am

[@vegasdre]

Love it ! GoKnighs!Go!

[@Hekkler72]

Flower V Quick in round 1 of 2018 was the greatest goalie battle I've ever seen. Quick had a 1.55 GAA and a .947 save % and he lost! Those are some next level, going to win the Cup stats and Flower said "Nope!".

[@Joe_Ma99]

As a Dallas fan I have nothing against Vegas. They’re a great team and we usually have exciting games against them. Met in playoffs twice and it’s 1-1. It annoys me that Seattle got Oleksiak but Cody Eakins not so much. Vegas fans are cool for the most part, especially compared to Minnesota and Colorado fans.

[@matdrat]

Saying T-Mobile Arena is "just west" of the strip is like saying the spots are just next to the leopard.

[@hispanophobic]

Every western teams hate vegas because they have been dominant for six years. The kings, sharks, avs fans hate this team 😂😂😂

[@wikoli-kuloloniele-kapalam2779]

😂😂😂😂 right! Periodt!!!

[@iBrowneye126]

With the Cup now, even more!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@xlr0gd205]

VGK ARE 2023 CHAMPIONS

[@alvininthechipmonks]

Suck it Vegas haters!! Let's go Knights!

[@emanuelgonzalez3967]

And 6 year late there are 2 win aways for winning Stanley cup

[@doneask1746]

One win away

[@CONSOLETRUTH2]

One misstep at the start was HOW the name was presented. While shouting out "THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS" GOLD confetti rained down making it look like those there were getting a GOLDEN SHOWER (if you do not know what that is, look it up and yoj will see why that was a bad idea!!!!"

[@nbapbaupdate8338]

Jaylen Brown story your next video theScore 🙏🙏🙏

[@SMC01ful]

As an Oilers fan, I cringe about the hype about Vegas success as a "new" franchise team, when franchise teams nowadays are given a far easier means of assembling competitive team's. So, I still think we were the best "newbies." That being said, its sour grapes really, VGK have been superb. I think its great VGK and the Oilers look set to become major divisional rivals, moreover, with VGK in the Pacific Division, it truly strengthens the league. So, bring it on, look forward to the battles ahead!

[@nbapbaupdate8338]

Expansion in Las Vegas EASY MONEY 😅😂😅😅😂

[@LBaker-y6t]

late by a year but they got it

[@CONSOLETRUTH2]

Crazy how, even though you are showing how everyone pegged us as bei g horrible, y the end of the season, even up u til today, people will say we were basica,ly given an all star team and how zll of our guys were 1st and 2nd line EASY and thuz we were gifted a CUP team out the gate. Gotta love re isionist history from salty, SALTY fans!!!!!!

[@suzyq923]

Locals call it Las Vegas.

[@MarGabArchive]

Vegas is simply a popular nickname, and while it wasn't mentioned, "Las Vegas Golden Knights" would've been a pretty long team name.

[@jonathansweet7205]

Wrong....

[@jackoats4911]

Lol, no, we don't. There's a difference between locals and natives. Natives rarely call it Las Vegas. We say Vegas

[@ykcor1983]

@@jackoats4911probably just depends on the group, belong up my friends family and I said Las Vegas When asked I say Las Vegas, but in conversation I say “Vegas”

[@justinvanhorne9958]

no.

[@joeford5181]

I liked The Golden Knights when they were introduced but damn they are so cringe because of their arrogance and backstabbing nature. I got sick of them trading Fluere for nothing. Couldn't you just give him back to The Pens instead of The Blackhawks?

[@KoDawgg]

They’re going to become one of the most hated teams in the NHL while the Kraken become one of the most loved

[@joeford5181]

@@KoDawgg hope so. I would love it if it's Kraken vs Knights next year. And it would be a sweep for the Kraken!!

[@alex_rides7858]

You mean sports teams doing sports things? It happens. Players get traded. Some decisions could be handled better but that's how things go. They thought fleury would show his age and decided to move off him. Obviously it was a bad thought. And it was handled poorly. But the organization isn't bad as a whole.

[@LyonHall1]

They have garnered an addiction. Im telling you if they had an ordinary first year like Seattle they wouldn't be where they are now.

[@FigureFarter]

@@alex_rides7858 Yeah, every team make mistakes like that.

[@rickpapineau5939]

Uh.. St Louis Blues? Two division Championships (yes, I know the division was the "expansion division") and 3 straight trips to the SC Finals in their first three years. Just going to leave that here...

[@MarGabArchive]

There is much more competition now than in the 60s. Vegas' road to the Finals is just more difficult yet more impressive.

[@slasher1087]

You just answered your own question. They were in an entire division of expansion. They made it to the cup and lost because all the teams in that conference were losers when it mattered. The entire division was a case of who sucks a little less.

[@jackoats4911]

Not remotely the same. Expansion vs Expansion until the finals. In your attempt to be smart you proved your ignorance

[@lk69ak65bl1]

The pay to win expansion pack team.

[@slasher1087]

Ironically, even after they made their picks, they were still expected to suck. And every step of the way everyone was wrong.

[@rileykazama3145]

Joe Pavelski dived

[@hoffy1955]

Expansion team in name only. They were allowed to select an entire NHL ready team. No previous expansion team was given such an advantage. It made them immediately better than the average NHL team. Credit to the organization for putting together a front office and coaching staff the coalesced quickly but don't call them an expansion team in the same breath will all the previous ones. That's apples and oranges.

[@Yimvision]

This is the dumbest take... Nobody thought this at the time of the draft. They were 200-1 to win the cup. If you knew so much more than the oddsmakers at Caeser's Palace then you could've made a fortune. (Yes i know they didn't win, but a 200-1 ticket leaves a lot of room to hedge). You are only saying this because they did well.

[@RobdaVegasMailman]

Yet, after the expansion draft, every so called "expert" said that the Knights would be horrible and laughed at anyone who suggested a .500 season, much less the playoffs. Take a seat.

[@Wallace-w1w]

Its all about money and capitalism! Disgusting how they're allowed to build the way they are.

[@longerhandles]

lol, tell your owner to spend money.