Whether or not the Golden Knights win a Stanley Cup – and they’re just one game away from getting to the Final – they’re playing with house money.
Sorry for the bad Las Vegas pun. There’s an undeniable charm about the league’s expansion team, which was crafted from a bin of leftover players no other team wanted, and the success its having.
Have you seen the pregame introduction? There are drummers. There are lights. There’s tacky old tyme medieval decor, all perfect for the cheesy-themed casino strip. A knight sliced in half a Jet that was projected onto the ice before Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Winnipeg. Imagine a virtual bear mauling a maple leaf on the ice at TD Garden? OK, maybe not the same effect.
Vegas is fun, and the Golden Knights have embraced every bit of it. Winning helps, too, and they certainly have that part figured out. They’ve become the new gold standard for expansion, a new barrier for the next team to strive for, wherever that may be.
“We’re being compensated over half a billion dollars for these teams and those are big numbers, you have to give them something,” said Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who’s also chairman of the league’s Board of Governors. “Vegas has been way more successful than anybody anticipated. As a team, on the ice, they’ve been tremendously successful. I don’t see anybody saying this is an aberration. It says it can continue.”
The challenge, of course, is sustaining success, which is really the goal for every team. It’s harder, though, when an organization is trying to gain traction in a non-traditional hockey market.
Vegas has proved it can be wildly entertaining, and that ice can, in fact, freeze in the desert. Consider the Florida Panthers, who entered the league in 1993. They finished with 84 points their first season, made it to the Stanley Cup Final in their third, and made the playoffs again in their fourth. After that, the Panthers toiled and made the playoffs just once from 1998-2011.
“Remember what happened to Florida,” Jacobs said. “Early success doesn't always manifest itself to later success. I think the challenges will be, if you don't have that [sustained] success, how will your patrons respond because they haven't had the time of evolving? That’s the kind of thing. But it’s a terrific asset.”
The Washington Capitals won just 19 games in its first two seasons in 1974-75. The Lightning made it to the playoffs once from their inception in 1992 until 2002, but won a Stanley Cup in 2004 and have seven more playoff appearances after that.
The path is hardly linear for any expansion team, but Vegas is proving it could achieve the highest echelon of success.
What’s really remarkable is that the Western Conference Finals include another fascinating example in the Jets. The Thrashers popped up in Atlanta in 1999 and made the playoffs once before relocating to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season. The Jets continued struggle, but since coach Paul Maurice took over four years ago, they’ve made the playoffs twice, including their current run.
Winnipeg’s been rewarded handsomely for its draft-and-develop approach that has patiently been crafted by general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who’s been with the team since it relocated.
“Terrific. Isn’t that terrific?” Jacobs said. “Smart draft, smart movements, winds up a successful team like Winnipeg. While it's a small market, because of the enthusiasm that goes on in Canada they have a strong base. I’ve enjoyed both [series], but watching the West evolve is very interesting.”
The pressing question is which city is next? The league is expected to add another team to balance the uneven number of 31 teams created when Vegas was added, and Seattle seems awfully close. The Board of Governors is still reviewing the application, but there’s a big buzz after selling 10,000 season tickets in 12 minutes for a team that doesn’t even exist yet.
“I can remember trying to get 12,000 season tickets (as an expansion team) 20 years ago, and that was hard,” Predators GM David Poile said in a recent USA Today article. “Seattle feels like they could be sold out on day one and for the foreseeable future. It’s unreal.”
Houston is another potential suitor. It’s the largest market without a hockey team, which gives it a leg up on hockey-crazed Quebec City.
The problem with Quebec City, according to Jacobs, is its financial limitations.
“Quebec is challenged,” Jacobs said. “They really will have to distinguish themselves. Houston is the fifth largest in North America versus the 105th, let’s say. They have a different situation. Economically, they’re challenged, but we’ve got enthusiastic fans there.”
Wherever the next NHL team ends up, it will have its work cut out, more so than the typical hurdles of an expansion team. The Golden Knights torched the NHL this season, and they can deliver one final blow with a Stanley Cup.
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