NHL: Vegas Golden Knights’ fairytale debut season continues
The ‘expansion’ team looks to make history in the 2018 Stanley Cup final
The Vegas Golden Knights have secured a place in the Stanley Cup final in their National Hockey League (NHL) debut season.
The ‘expansion’ team will play the Washington Capitals or Tampa Bay Lightning after winning the Western Conference final yesterday. The Knights progressed to the Stanley Cup final with an overall 4-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.
After becoming Las Vegas’s first major professional sports team, the Golden Knights are “on the verge of history”, says the BBC. They are the first expansion team in 50 years to progress to the Stanley Cup final in their inaugural season. Toronto Arenas (1918) and St Louis Blues (1968) also reached the finals in their first year.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On getting to the final, Vegas general manager George McPhee said he just wanted the team to enjoy their Western Conference success. He said: “I don’t even want to deal with that [the Stanley Cup final]. I want to enjoy what this team has done and we’ll get that in about a day or so.
“I just know that this felt really good tonight. We are in the Stanley Cup final. It’s pretty nice. I’ve had a chance to be there before and I’d really like to win it this time.”
All hail the ‘Golden misfits’
Describing the achievement as “the unthinkable”, USA Today heaped praise on the Golden Knights and said if they beat the Washington Capitals or Tampa Bay Lightning, they would considered “one of the most unlikely champions in sports history”.
USA Today’s Kevin Allen said: “In a city where Frank Sinatra crooned, the Rat Pack roamed, Sugar Ray Leonard fought and Liberace headlined, the Golden Knights are proving to be one of the most celebrated acts in Las Vegas history.”
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan also hailed the “Golden misfits” - the team’s nickname for themselves - for extending their “improbable run”. Winger Ryan Reaves told ESPN: “We call ourselves the Golden Misfits for a reason. We’ve proven everyone else wrong all season.”
‘Best story in sports history!’
We look at the reaction on Twitter to the Golden Knights’s NHL fairytale:
‘Little expansion team who could’.
Forget ‘Rudy’ or ‘Remember The Titans’...
‘When I was a kid…’
Will more history be made?
Expansion success.
‘One of the best NHL stories of all time’.
What a difference a year makes.
A real sporting fairytale.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - October 13, 2024
Sunday's cartoons - the swing of things, fear of facts, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 timely cartoons about climate change denial
Cartoons Artists take on textbook trouble, bizarre beliefs, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Kris Kristofferson: the free-spirited country music star who studied at Oxford
In the Spotlight The songwriter, singer and film-star has died aged 88
By The Week UK Published
-
Mason Greenwood: footballer arrested on suspicion of rape and assault
Speed Read Man Utd confirm the striker will not train or play until further notice
By The Week Staff Published
-
Handball: swapping bikini bottoms for tight pants
Speed Read Women competitors will be required to ‘wear short tight pants with a close fit’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Cristiano Ronaldo’s second coming
Speed Read Last week, Manchester United re-signed the forward on a two-year deal thought to be worth more than £400,000 a week
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Bank holidays and boycotts: are MPs trying to jinx England?
Speed Read Declaring a bank holiday would be ‘tempting fate’, says Boris Johnson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Weightlifting: Olympic Games set for transgender first
Speed Read New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will make history at Tokyo 2020
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sport shorts: Champions League expansion plan to be agreed
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Joachim Low and the Lions women’s team
By Mike Starling Published
-
Sport shorts: Sturgeon slams Rangers fans over title celebrations
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Keely Hodgkinson and Bryson DeChambeau
By Mike Starling Published
-
Sport shorts: Klopp’s unwanted record as Liverpool lose again at Anfield
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Tiger Woods and Tom Brady
By Mike Starling Published