The Golden Knights are easy not to like.
As the NHL’s Western Conference Final opens Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena, two countries should be united in rooting against Las Vegas.
The queue of reasons is longer than a hockey stick. And not just because of the juxtaposition to the Avalanche, who, you know, follow media policies and don’t make lame excuses about catching flights.
As a society, we love winners. Teams that capture imaginations, create memories and hold trophies. But how teams achieve success still matters.
The Golden Knights are obnoxious.
For starters, they got too good too fast. They won the Stanley Cup six years after joining the league as an expansion team in 2017. To put that in perspective, the Toronto Maple Leafs last claimed a title in 1967. And the Montreal Canadiens held a parade in the streets for their 24th championship in 1993.
The Golden Knights need not apologize for the bad luck and incompetence of others. But their vapor trail of success reeks of arrogance and entitlement.
And that is just from headlines over the past week.
Coach after not opening their locker room to the media following a Game 6 elimination win over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Worse, Tortorella, who has made a career in TV between his many coaching jobs, declined to speak to reporters.
Las Vegas’ appeal, not surprisingly, was denied Tuesday.
Rallying folks against the Golden Knights over a media issue will be seen as silly, since most people hate us more than them.
But it is one reason among several ripe ones.
Want a better case? How about the fact that Las Vegas refuses to let Bruce Cassidy interview for other coaching jobs? The Golden Knights fired him with eight games remaining in the season. Cassidy remains under contract through next season, thus requiring permission from Las Vegas for suitors.
According to reports, the Golden Knights refused to grant permission for division rivals Edmonton and Los Angeles.
This practice is not uncommon with assistants on staff. But head coaches you have canned? Seriously. This is a different level of petty. , their statement Tuesday suggesting they are as flabbergasted as the rest of us.
“It is our position that coaches who remain under contract, but are no longer working for their club, should not be prevented from pursuing other employment opportunities. It would be unprecedented at the head coaching level should multiple teams be denied permission to speak with Coach Cassidy.”
Basically, this kind of (bleep) has never been done before. But it is not like there is another team that was trimmed a prime draft pick for “flagrant violations” of the media policy, either. So, we should not be shocked.
Earlier this season, Vegas did something that left many hockey fans uncomfortable, if not upset. The .
For an organization that has trumpeted values like unity and resilience, it did not go over well nationally. Even some of their own fans created an online petition urging them not to add Hart, writing in the online posting “by signing a player facing such allegations, the Vegas Golden Knights would be sending a damaging and cruel message to victims.”
We all know morality in sports is selective and tied to winning. Many professional teams pretzel themselves into illogical positions when putting and keeping players on their rosters. Las Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon explained the signing on the VGK Insider Show months ago: “I think his abilities on the ice are good, but we wouldn’t have crossed that threshold if we didn’t believe in the person.”
Hart, who is 8-4 in the playoffs this spring, is the only acquitted player in the NHL.
The Golden Knights’ resume sparkles. They are making their fifth conference finals appearance in nine years.
However, the way they used the long-term injured reserve list to help them win the Stanley Cup in 2023 still creates hard feelings. It is the practice of removing high profile players from the salary cap temporarily, then activating them in the postseason. The Blackhawks, Lightning and Panthers, like the Knights, are teams that won the cup employing this technique.
By letter of the law, it was legal. But it definitely felt like it violated the spirit of the rules.
A new collective bargaining agreement ironed out in September now prevents stashing because it added a postseason salary cap.
In a vacuum, it is not a huge deal (The Denver Broncos, for instance, were fined for circumventing the cap during the championship run in the 1990s).
But it is a pattern with the Knights. They are not ruining hockey. But they are not exactly running from the villain persona.
. They went state-by-state and determined which team American hockey fans love to hate. The Golden Knights finished first — or is it last? — with 11 states rooting against them.
Las Vegas can say we just don’t get it. Other than the media penalty, they can say they followed regulations. But when squinting, why do they come across as Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots?
Avs’ fans don’t need Hunter S. Thompson to fear and loathe Las Vegas. The lather comes easily since the Knights knocked Colorado out of the playoffs in 2021 with four straight wins.
The Golden Knights are a formidable opponent. They deserve to be here.
But let’s be very clear, they have more than earned your scorn.
