Vegas outshot them 56 to 30. Fifty six. If not for Quick these games aren't even close. It's actually a lot like WPG/MIN except WPG has more skill and thus finishes more of their chances than does Vegas.
I think LA was probably on their way down sooner into a rebuild. Stevens came in as a fresh change (not saying he's not a great coach, he probably is) and likely got one more year of success, but I bet we see a steeper slide next season out of the playoffs and then selling off of a couple aging stars.
Of course missing Muzzin and Doughty for game 2 isn't easy, either.
Regardless of your feelings of the Knights I encourage everyone to watch them in the playoffs as we are witnessing history that's not likely to be repeated in our lifetime. It is not very likely we will see another expansion team have a first season like this.
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I think LA was probably on their way down sooner into a rebuild. Stevens came in as a fresh change (not saying he's not a great coach, he probably is) and likely got one more year of success, but I bet we see a steeper slide next season out of the playoffs and then selling off of a couple aging stars.
Of course missing Muzzin and Doughty for game 2 isn't easy, either.
Yeah, missing 2 valuable players and still pushing the game to double overtime in Vegas. Wouldn't lose hope as a Kings fan in the series.
Yeah, missing 2 valuable players and still pushing the game to double overtime in Vegas. Wouldn't lose hope as a Kings fan.
They have played them close on the scoreboard but the Knights have largely dominated and outclassed the Kings. Quick in god mode is the only reason the games have been close. I just can't get over how amazing a job Gallant has done.
Not to look too far forward when LA hasn't lost at home yet but it's pretty clear who should win this series based on what's gone on so far... can the Sharks beat these guys? Because I definitely don't think the Ducks can.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Regardless of your feelings of the Knights I encourage everyone to watch them in the playoffs as we are witnessing history that's not likely to be repeated in our lifetime. It is not very likely we will see another expansion team have a first season like this.
AND they’re a really fun team to watch. Last nights game was great
Yeah, missing 2 valuable players and still pushing the game to double overtime in Vegas. Wouldn't lose hope as a Kings fan in the series.
I wasn't saying they totally don't belong, but the signs are there despite the close scores. Vegas looks quite dominate for most of the time played. Quick has been incredible and the shots kind of paint the same picture.
I think what this is showing is Hockey success is driven by your worst player on your roster rather than by your best. Basketball is a best player driven sport.
Vegas got the 6th best forward, 2nd best goalie, and 4th best defensemen off of each team so they should have the best 3rd and 4th lines in the league.
Those videos never fail to make me respect the referees more. The league should be pushing that as much as possible, it not only humanizes them but the communication they have with the players is fantastic and gives so much good context to decisions around game management, which from 30,000 feet can look hugely questionable.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
I think what this is showing is Hockey success is driven by your worst player on your roster rather than by your best. Basketball is a best player driven sport.
Vegas got the 6th best forward, 2nd best goalie, and 4th best defensemen off of each team so they should have the best 3rd and 4th lines in the league.
..and from some teams the best goalie was available due to salary/age. They basically got everything you said plus a top level starter, along with great backups.
What a windfall that draft ended up being, and really shows that ownership's insistence on paying more for better draft rules was a huge success. If you're going to put up hundreds of millions to start a decades long journey, may as well put up a little more and not spend years digging out of the basement like most expansion teams.
I mean a lot of actual disaster franchise stories in terms of fan support can be directly correlated with an inability to show them anything to get excited about on the ice for years, sometimes a decade+.
Look at Columbus, a hockey-ish (not sunbelt) market with incredible, jubilant initial support (straight sellouts for a couple years I think), just eroded year after year with nothing happening to the point where 11-13k became the average.
Anyone that wants the NHL to remain healthy and competitive in the sports world should love this story. Vegas is a market that could easily turn to failure, but the NHL took a chance with a gung ho ownership group where other leagues didn't want to be first.
The NFL really put pressure the NHL to succeed there, early, with their "Ohh, another league went there, okay we're in!!" strategy. Make no mistake, Vegas is now the new "it" market for pro sports and every league is looking there with the Knights success, which is a combination of being the first and being really great.
Fans of hockey should be proud of this, it's really incredible watching locals in a desert city fall in love with our sport and act like it's the biggest thing in town in a city that the entire world flies to for entertainment.
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I mean a lot of actual disaster franchise stories in terms of fan support can be directly correlated with an inability to show them anything to get excited about on the ice for years, sometimes a decade+.
Look at Columbus, a hockey-ish (not sunbelt) market with incredible, jubilant initial support (straight sellouts for a couple years I think), just eroded year after year with nothing happening to the point where 11-13k became the average.
5 years ago maybe. They had good attendance this year.
5 years ago maybe. They had good attendance this year.
Yep, absolutely. Sorry I wasn't clear, I was going back to their first ten years or so of existence where the city wanted to jump on board but had no way to do so with such horrible on ice product.
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I think what this is showing is Hockey success is driven by your worst player on your roster rather than by your best. Basketball is a best player driven sport.
Vegas got the 6th best forward, 2nd best goalie, and 4th best defensemen off of each team so they should have the best 3rd and 4th lines in the league.
I don't agree.
First of all, the bolded isn't exactly true, as it ignores the fact that talented young players were excluded from the process. For most teams, it was more like the 9th or 10th forward, or 6th defenseman. Yes, there were a few exceptions, but not many.
It also ignores some pretty incredible happenings. No one - NO ONE - could have ever predicted that a 25 year old with 163 games and 18 goals and 32 assists for his career! and a previous high of 9 goals, would become a 43 goal, PPG player. And it's not because he was suddenly playing with Crosby either. Think about Ferland being taken in the expansion draft, and then suddenly not only becoming the best player on his team, but one of the top players in the league.
Or that a 27 year old, with 60 career points, would put up 75 points. Yes, Marchessault blossomed in Florida last year (for his first and only good season), but again, no one could have seen that happening. It's one thing to get 50 points as a secondary piece, but it's another to become a top-level, #1 C.
Or that 9 or 10 different players would have career years. And we're not talking career years for 23 year olds, we're talking career years for journeymen.
They also got A+ goaltending.
In hindsight, everyone likes to look at this and claim that the Knights are super deep and pretty talented. But I think it is more a case of chemistry, heart, an us-against-the-world attitude, a great coaching job, and a little bit of magic.
Pretty damn fun to watch, though.
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The fast pace at which Vegas controls the play in the offensive zone is very impressive. Already looking forward to watching a Vegas v Jets/Predators western final.
The hockey has been so entertaining in this series, I don't even miss the Flames anymore (that last comment is for you Murray Edwards)
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