Sunday, June 03, 2018
Vegas on Fire!!
The Vegas
Golden Knights continue to roll along in the 2017-2018 NHL playoffs.
It has become one of the greatest mysteries in sport.
The team was
given a few guidelines to set up shop, and they drafted a few players
to get their inaugural season underway. The other teams in the league
were told they could protect several players, but that they might
have to let a few good players go in a draft to Vegas. It appears
that the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Florida Panthers were hurt the
most in the Vegas draft. The Pens left Marc Andre Fleury unprotected,
and the Panthers let Jonathan Marchessault fly the coop.
The Vegas
team had to fork out $ 500 million to get into the league. They had
to guarantee seat sales. They had to show that the city deserved a
major league franchise. I am sure that league management worried
about their decision to set up shop in Vegas. No need to worry any
more.
The Golden
Knights are for real, as they proved again on Monday night. They
faced the Jets again in Winnipeg, and they knew they had to face that
“Whiteout” crowd again. They were not phased. They stormed out to
a 2-0 lead, and never looked back. The win tied the series at a game
apiece, with five games remaining. The win put Vegas in the driver's
seat for the series. They have a relatively small player to thank for
their success.
His name is
Jonathan Marchessault, and he hails from Quebec. He was born and
raised there, and spent his entire Junior hockey career there. He
credits his junior coach, Patrick Roy, for some of his success.
Listed at 5' 9”, and tipping the scales at 175 pounds, Marchessault
was never drafted in the NHL. He was signed as a free agent by
Columbus, shipped off to Tampa Bay, then to the Panthers. The
Panthers left him unprotected, and Vegas picked him up. He is in the
second year of his contract, and he will make less than a million
dollars this year.
That will
change significantly next year, more than 5 times that amount, at the
very least. He netted two markers last night, and now has 6 goals and
9 assists in the playoffs. He recorded 75 points in the regular
season on 27 goals and 48 assists. Last season he led the Panthers
with 30 goals, and added 21 assists.
Another part
of the Marchessault mystery lies in the number of years that it took
for him to gain this status. He bounced back and forth to the
American Hockey League in his first attempts to crack an NHL lineup
with stints in Connecticut, Springfield, and Syracuse. Imagine the
frustration he felt from 2011 to 2015. All in the past. Now it's
Vegas, baby!
The Canadian
side of my brain is cheering for the Jets. Yet another part of my
brain marvels at the accomplishments of the Golden Knights. When I
met Marchessault in Florida a couple of years ago, he really
struggled with English. In last night's interview he stated clearly,
“We showed the hockey world that we deserve to be here.”
To sip from
Lord Stanley's mug, the winner of the Western Series will have to get
by the winner from the East. Would that be Tampa Bay or the Capitals?
You and I both know that Ovechkin and company do not intend to get
silver medals.
Ah, but all
local eyes are now centered on Chilliwack, British Columbia, the site
of the Royal Bank Cup. The Dukes won in overtime last night, almost
guaranteeing a spot in the semi finals, at the very least.
# posted by James Hurst @ 9:24 AM 
