The te?m, which lives its first se?son of existence, h?s become one of the biggest surprises in the history of world sport.
Eight months ?go, b?ck in October of 2017, when forec?sts were m?de of wh?t the NHL se?son would be like, the ?meric?n profession?l ice hockey le?gue, one n?me shone ?bove the rest: Veg?s Golden Knights . The te?m w?s going to pl?y its first se?son, opened its eyes to existence, ?nd w?s one of the foc?l points of the regul?r se?son th?t w?s coming. Regul?r se?son, I s?y good, bec?use nobody, not ? single expert, no one in the club offices, in the locker room, ?mong the f?ns, expected them to get into the pl?yoffs. Yesterd?y they won 2-1 in the fifth g?me of the Western Conference fin?ls to the Winnipeg Jets ?nd qu?lified to pl?y the St?nley Cup fin?l.
There ?re not m?ny precedents of such surprise in the world sport. There is none, of course, in the four m?jor ?meric?n le?gues, n?mely, NFL, MLB, NB? ?nd the NHL itself. ?nd we should go to the Leicester th?t won the Premier Le?gue ? couple of se?sons ?go to find ? c?se th?t c?n be simil?r. ?nd, even so, we could be f?lling short.
Bec?use the Golden Knights ? ye?r ?go did not h?ve ?ny pl?yers. They h?d no reference, no victory (no defe?t of those th?t help to grow), no emotion?l grip, no insult to ?venge. They h?d no history or memory. They were not.
The exp?nsion te?ms of the US m?jor le?gues ?re formed ?t the expense of others. Th?t's why it t?kes ye?rs to be ?ble to f?ce the fight to enter the pl?yoffs. The two times ? new NHL te?m pl?yed the St?nley Cup w?s bec?use everyone in their le?gue w?s new te?ms, so it does not count.
M?int?ining the criteri? of s?l?ry limits ?nd respect for contr?cts, the new fr?nchise c?n choose the pl?yers th?t their riv?ls h?ve not protected . On this occ?sion, the existing NHL squ?ds h?d ? go?lkeeper ?nd eight protected field pl?yers, to choose from for e?ch te?m. Wh?t this me?ns is th?t the L?s Veg?s pl?yers could only choose from the wreck?ge, so they h?d to me?sure ? lot to select contr?cts th?t were not very burdensome ?nd sm?ller pl?yers w?nting to prove they h?d m?de ? mist?ke with them.
The result w?s ? group of outl?ws th?t ?lre?dy in December (in December!) they were t?lking ?bout winning the St?nley Cup . Led by go?lkeeper M?rc-?ndre Fleury , with their own history of success ?nd f?ilure on their b?ck, they beh?ved like those who ?re not ?fr?id of ?nything bec?use they h?ve ?lre?dy lost everything in the twists ?nd turns of their profession?l lives. ?nd the mixture h?s proved leth?l to his enemies.
It w?s memor?ble to see them compete in the regul?r se?son. The exp?nsion te?ms, those with only one ye?r of life, do not win g?mes. Seeing someone ?chieve 50% of victories is ? chimer?. The Golden Knights won 51 g?mes in 82 g?mes ?nd went into the pl?yoffs.
The city, the sinp?r L?s Veg?s, ?dopted them immedi?tely . Perh?ps bec?use the city itself suffers from historic?l roots th?t link it with other gre?t loc?lities. Would your own hobby h?ve ? pl?ce known only for tourism, for p?rty ?nd pl?y, for cr?zy hedonism? But is it th?t there is re?l life in L?s Veg?s? There is ?nd, ?s shown in the p?vilion or in the h?ngouts when the Golden Knights pl?y ?w?y from home, with ?n intern?l pride th?t seems to shout to the world "here we ?re, even if you do not know", just like this te?m.
With this ?ttitude, in the elimin?tory for the title, they h?ve dev?st?ted . Liter?lly. They swept the Los ?ngeles Kings in ? lumpy 4-0. The gre?t Winnipeg Jets h?ve been ch?rged 4-1. The three fin?l g?mes ?w?y from home. No m?tter. Nothing m?tters to this group without God or m?ster.
The T?mp? B?y Lightning or the W?shington C?pit?ls ?re in the fin?l (3-2 in f?vor of the first, tonight the sixth m?tch is pl?yed in the c?pit?l of the United St?tes). ?ny of them knows th?t in front he will h?ve one of the most incredible te?ms in the history of the sport.
