Vegas Golden Knights | Suki Sather

Wallpaper and Institution

The NHL has had a presence in Las Vegas since 1991; that year, the town hosted the 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 subsequently organize”Frozen Fury” — a series of annual preseason games in Las Vegas from the Colorado Avalanche. The NHL awards ceremonies have been held in Las Vegas since 2009. [6] In 2009, the press speculated about a plan involving Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer to move the Phoenix Coyotes into Nevada. [7]
Rumors of a Las Vegas expansion team surfaced in August 2014, pointing into a brand new indoor arena on the Strip (constructed as a joint venture between Anschutz Entertainment Group, owners of the Los Angeles Kings, along with MGM Resorts International) as the potential home stadium, although these rumors were refused by the league. [8][9][10] In November 2014, an unconfirmed report said that the league had chosen billionaire businessman Bill Foley and the Maloof family (former owners of this National Basketball Association’s Sacramento Kings, and founders of the Palms Casino Resort) to lead the ownership group for a Las Vegas expansion group. [11][12] In December 2014, the NHL’s board of governors decided to allow Foley to maintain a season ticket drive to gauge interest in a Las Vegas team, although league commissioner Gary Bettman also warned the media to”[not] create more from this than it’s”. [13][14] The season ticket drive started in February 2015, together with interested parties placing ten percent deposits to the 2016–17 season. [15] The driveway drew 5,000 deposits in its first day and a half, and attained its goal of 10,000 deposits by April 2015. [15][16]
In June 2015, the league opened the window to get prospective owners to bid on growth teams. By this point, Foley had secured more than 13,200 season-ticket deposits. Two growth applications were submitted: Foley’s program for a Las Vegas team, and a bid from Quebecor to revive the Quebec Nordiques in a new stadium in Quebec City. The two Las Vegas and Quebec were invited to move into Stage II of this league growth bid in August 2015,[17] and subsequently advanced to Phase III.
At the league owners’ meeting on June 22, 2016, in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas expansion bid was approved with a unanimous vote, with play to start 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 dedicated to cover the league’s $500 million expansion fee[20] and began the process of employing the team’s principal staff and determining its own official identity. Foley announced that former Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee would be the franchise’s first general manager. [21] On November 22, 2016, the title was shown as the Vegas Golden Knights.
Start of operations: 2017–present 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 officially start operations like free agent acquisition, and participation in league meetings. [22] Five days later, the Golden Knights made their first employees move by signing Reid Duke to a three-year entry contract. [23][24]
Gerard Gallant training the Golden Knights during their inaugural 2017–18 year old. Gallant was called the head coach in April 2017.
The group declared inaugural head coach Gerard Gallant on April 13, 2017. [25] Over the next two months, the Golden Knights developed their farm system, announcing affiliations with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL. [26][27]
The team engaged 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 included goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the Pittsburgh Penguins and winger James Neal from 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 game 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 as the second match of a home-and-home series. In the aftermath 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 start 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 games. During their tenth game, goaltender Oscar Dansk was injured getting the third Golden Knights’ goaltender to be injured throughout the season after losing starters Fleury and the newly acquired Malcolm Subban, forcing the group to begin a fourth goaltender in 11 games with Maxime Lagace. [33] Fifteen games into this season, Vadim Shipachyov became the first participant to retire from the NHL as a Golden Knight when he chose to go back to the Kontinental Hockey League. In December, the Golden Knights set another NHL expansion team record of six consecutive wins, a record they had previously missed when 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 place the growth team record for wins in a debut season with 34 wins after only 50 matches,[37] and then on February 21, 2018, specify a record for most points by an expansion team from 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 year 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 group in the four major sports to acquire its division at its inaugural year (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 at a 1–0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at the first game of the set. Six days later on April 17, the franchise made their initial 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 season, also advanced to the Western Conference Finals. [42] On May 20, Vegas defeated the Winnipeg Jets to win the Western Conference Finals in five games, becoming the third NHL team to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in its inaugural season, following the Toronto Arenas at 1918 along with the St. Louis Blues at 1968. [43] The Golden Knights would shed the Stanley Cup Finals to the Washington Capitals in five matches. [44]
In the 2018–19 season, the Golden Knights returned to the playoffs as the third seed of the Pacific Division. They had been defeated in the First Round in seven games by the San Jose Sharks, whom the Golden Knights defeated in the Second Round of their prior season. [45]

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