Vegas Golden Knights

Background and establishment

The NHL has had a presence in Las Vegas since 1991; that calendar year, the town hosted the very first outdoor game involving two NHL teams — a preseason exhibition between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers out Caesars Palace. The Kings would then arrange”Frozen Fury” — a series of annual preseason games in Las Vegas against the Colorado Avalanche. The NHL awards ceremonies are held in Las Vegas because 2009. [6] In 2009, the press speculated about a strategy between Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer to move the Phoenix Coyotes into Nevada. [7]
Rumors of a vegas expansion team surfaced in August 2014, pointing into a brand new indoor arena on the Strip (built as a joint venture between Anschutz Entertainment Group, owners of the Los Angeles Kings, along with MGM Resorts International) as the potential home arena, even though these rumors were refused by the league. [8][9][10] In November 2014, an unconfirmed report stated that the league had chosen billionaire businessman Bill Foley and the Maloof family (former owners of the National Basketball Association’s Sacramento Kings, and founders of the Palms Casino Resort) to direct the ownership group to get a vegas expansion group. [11][12] In December 2014, the NHL’s board of governors decided to allow Foley to hold a season ticket push to gauge interest in a Las Vegas group, though league commissioner Gary Bettman also warned the press to”[not] make more out of this than it’s”. [13][14] The season ticket drive began in February 2015, with interested parties placing ten percent deposits for the 2016–17 season. [15] The drive brought 5,000 deposits in its very first day and a half, and reached its aim of 10,000 deposits by April 2015. [15][16]
In June 2015, the league officially opened the window to get potential owners to bidding on expansion teams. With this stage, Foley had procured more than 13,200 season-ticket deposits. Two expansion programs were filed: Foley’s application for a Las Vegas team, and a bid from Quebecor to revive the Quebec Nordiques at a new stadium in Quebec City. The two Las Vegas and Quebec were encouraged to move into Stage II of this league expansion bid in August 2015,[17] and subsequently advanced to Stage III.
In the league owners’ meeting on June 22, 2016, in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas expansion bidding was approved with a unanimous vote, with play to begin at the 2017–18 NHL season. [18] The group became the first major professional sports franchise to be established in Las Vegas, and the very first NHL expansion team since 2000. [19] Foley committed to pay the league’s $500 million expansion fee[20] and started the process of employing the group’s principal personnel and determining its official identity. Foley declared that former Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee would be the franchise’s first general manager. [21] On November 22, 2016, the name was revealed as the Vegas Golden Knights.
Start of operations: 2017–current On March 1, 2017 (coinciding with the league’s trade deadline), the group completed its growth fee payments and filings, which makes it eligible to formally start operations like free agent acquisition, and involvement in league meetings. [22] Five days later, the Golden Knights made their first employees move by signing Reid Duke to a three-year entry-level contract. [23][24]
Gerard Gallant coaching the Golden Knights throughout their inaugural 2017–18 season. Gallant was named as the head coach in April 2017.
The team declared inaugural head coach Gerard Gallant on April 13, 2017. [25] On the next two months, the Golden Knights developed their plantation system, announcing affiliations with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL. [26][27]
The group participated in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft on June 21, 2017, selecting an available player from all 30 teams in the NHL. The draft selections were declared at T-Mobile Arena during the NHL Awards ceremony. Some notable selections contained goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the Pittsburgh Penguins and winger James Neal in the Nashville Predators. At the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Cody Glass was the first player chosen by the Golden Knights. The Golden Knights played their first match on October 6 against the Dallas Stars with Neal scoring the franchise’s first two goals en route to their first victory. [28]
The team’s inaugural home game was played on October 10, 2017, hosting the Arizona Coyotes since the second match of a home-and-home series. In the wake of the October 1 mass shooting, the pre-game ceremonies honored the victims of this attack, and the group issued an appeal for donations to its charitable arm. [29] With their 5–2 win, the Golden Knights increased their unbeaten streak to begin the season to 3–0, an NHL record for an expansion team. [30][31][32] The Golden Knights are the first team in NHL history to have started their inaugural season winning eight of the first nine matches. Throughout their inaugural match, goaltender Oscar Dansk was hurt getting the third Golden Knights’ goaltender to be injured throughout the season after losing starters Fleury along with the newly acquired Malcolm Subban, forcing the team to begin a fourth goaltender in 11 matches with Maxime Lagace. [33] Fifteen games into the season, Vadim Shipachyov became the first player to retire from the NHL as a Golden Knight when he decided to go back to the Kontinental Hockey League. Back in December, the Golden Knights set another NHL expansion team record of six straight wins, a record they had previously missed once they dropped their tenth game of the season, and established a new NHL record with eight straight wins. [34][35][36] On February 1, 2018, the Golden Knights set the expansion team record for wins in a debut season with 34 wins after only 50 matches,[37] and later on February 21, 2018, specify a record for most points by an expansion team in the inaugural season with 84. [38] Clinching a berth for its 2018 playoffs on March 26, the Golden Knights became the first team as the Edmonton Oilers and Hartford Whalers in the 1979–80 season to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league. [39] On March 31, the Knights clinched the Pacific Division title, becoming the first true expansion team in the four major sports to acquire its division in its inaugural season (not counting all-expansion branches, as was the case from the 1967–68 year ). [40] They had headed the Pacific since December 23, 2017.
On April 11, the franchise won its first playoff game in a 1–0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at the first match of this series. Six days later on April 17, the franchise earned their first playoff series win against the Kings, winning the fourth game by a 1–0 score, which also became their first playoff series sweep. The Knights became the first team in NHL history to sweep their first playoff series in their inaugural season. [41] On May 6, 2018, the Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks four-games-to-two, getting the third team in NHL history to win multiple playoff series in their first year, and advanced to the Western Conference Finals. [42] On May 20, Vegas conquered the Winnipeg Jets to win the Western Conference Finals in five matches, getting the third NHL team to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in its inaugural season, following the Toronto Arenas in 1918 along with the St. Louis Blues at 1968. [43] The Golden Knights would lose the Stanley Cup Finals to the Washington Capitals in five games. [44]
From the 2018–19 year, the Golden Knights returned into the playoffs since the next seed of their Pacific Division. They were defeated in the First Round in seven games by the San Jose Sharks, whom the Golden Knights defeated at the Second Round of the prior season. [45]