Bruce Cassidy is new to the Pacific Division. He is not however new to doing what the Golden Knights have done much of their five-year history, dominating Pacific Division teams.
Since joining the league in 2017, the Golden Knights have won the Pacific twice (and tied for 1st in the West once), they have been the last Pacific Division team standing in the playoffs three times, and boast an insane 82-26-11 record against the seven teams currently in the division.
They’ve outscored every Pacific team in the regular season and boast a goal differential of +126.
Cassidy’s numbers are not nearly as drastic but are still incredibly strong.
| Opponent | Record | Points % | Goal Differential |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANA | 3-5-0 | .375 | -2 |
| CGY | 6-3-0 | .667 | +2 |
| EDM | 4-4-1 | .500 | -5 |
| LAK | 6-0-3 | .833 | +11 |
| SEA | 2-0-0 | 1.00 | +2 |
| SJS | 9-0-0 | 1.00 | +18 |
| VAN | 6-4-1 | .591 | -4 |
| OVERALL | 36-16-5 | .675 | +22 |
The .675 points percentage would equate to a 111 point regular season.
There are three different teams in the division that Cassidy’s Bruins never lost to in regulation and he has at least a .500 points percentage against six of the seven teams.
Obviously, there will be new challenges inside of the division this year and Cassidy will have to get used to the rigors of the West coast travel schedule, but historically he’s shown an ability to beat up on the teams the Golden Knights play most.
If VGK do that, they’ll be headed back to the postseason without any issues at all.
Bobby
What’s the inside scoop on bringing in another goalie? Yes we all hope Logan Thompson plays well as a #1 or #2, but we need more solid goaltending if we’re gonna make a run at this thing.
John W
Championship teams often find a way to win by isolating their weaknesses in one area. Right now, the Knights have Two areas of weakness, Goalkeeping, and Forward depth.
Assuming that Brossoit becomes available as a back up relatively early in the season, a tandem of LT and LB wouldn’t be awful. Assuming defense stays healthy, the keepers will get lots of support.
My take is that Lehner was the wrong choice, for lots of reasons. He has been the cause of much distraction and division. I certainly don’t wish injury on anyone, but this injury gives the team a second chance. Let’s use RL’s LTIR to sign some forward depth, starting with Stasny, and isolate our weakness in only one area.
Mike StG
John W – I agree. In fact, I think the decision to acquire Lehner was the beginning of their problems. Not so much because of him personally, but the unnecessary division it caused and the cap situation it put them in. Word is that PDB didn’t want Fleury in net, so maybe that was partly what drove the decision.
I agree it makes sense to see if they can sign Stastny, or one other forward who can help with scoring. I do think they should leave some cap room in case they need to add another goalie in season.
John W
Thanks, and I totally agree. Patience in goal – urgency in creating depth
THE hockey GOD
“Word is that PDB didn’t want Fleury in net”
link ? Back up ? evidence?
Did PDB make that call before or after he started the farce of franchise in Habs series and he messed up (yet again)?
PS I was a MAF fan then I wasn’t one
PPS when I die please don’t make me vote Democrat !
PPPS Jesus had a lot of hate for the pharisees, many passages trashing them. and the money exchangers at the temple, and perverts (
Leviticus 20:13
13 “ ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.) Cor 1chapter 6 , v 9. From Apostle of Jesus, Paul. and for those of us shedding the light on lies and revealing the truth to those blinded, err, brainwashed. ”
Romans 1:18-32
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ”
Double standards abound on this site, do not judge me because you don’t know me . I end with this gem
” Matthew 7 :: NIV. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (I don’t have a plank in my eye, do you ?)
Mike StG
ThG – I will answer the only relevant point you make – your question about PDB and Fleury.
That came from SinBin podcasts, and in addition to that Ken reported that PDB did not speak to Fleury the entire last (Vezina) season he played.
Just for clarity – my quoting Christian qualities and principles was only because you declare yourself to be a conservative, the vast majority who claim to be Christian. You seem to fall into that group since you characterize democrats with great contempt as a bunch of atheistic ne’er-do-wells. I was merely pointing out that your speech does not reflect Christian qualities. And BTW Jesus condemnation of Pharisees was because they were making a mockery of their faith by their money grubbing practices inside the holy temple. Hate for those who have differing political or sports opinions doesn’t even come close by comparison.
Enough said, no further responses on non-hockey issues from me.
THE hockey GOD
PDB never talked to MAF from a source who never went into the dressing room ??
PDB social media posts say otherwise, so do his pressers.
You are no Christian, Mike STG, you all like to single out people on this forum because you HATE the topics that they post. Yet you are as guilty as others. Oh oh I want to hear about HOCKEY, yet you post about religion. Which is YOUR RIGHT. Hypocrisy abounds in your posts. “I want to address one thing”. Then you address more than one.
This applies most appropriately to your ramblings.
Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned”
deal with it, as best as you can.
I suggest getting some Randy donuts and stuffing your pie hole to the brim. Good luck with that. Christian liar. bah ha ha ha ha ha
Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned” you are no Christian, far from it. Do better, “Christian”.
Mike StG
Okay ThG… blah blah blah. Give it a rest. I don’t need to waste time with you.
You think you won, got the last word? OK, you got it!! Winner, winner!!
Now, I’d like to have some actual hockey talk with others. Bye for now.
Original 6✅
hard to keep a vezinia goalie out of the net. Never liked PDB. dressed like he shopped at Sears. Sharks fired him. he didn’t get the knights thru semi. finals twice. so he failed at what he was suppose to do. Say what u want But the sharks new who wouldn’t get past Vegas. he got lucky on the Pavs bulshit call that year to get past vegas. but he really failed not blowing the Habs out.
Mike StG
Original 6 – Can’t argue with your nice summation of PDB’s tenure in Vegas. I never voiced criticism before, as I wanted to see how it went and what he could get out of the team.
I do think his systems approach and everyone having to be in a certain designated spot made them predictable and also stifled their offensive creativity (even though Patch thought it was a positive).
IMO Karlsson’s offensive game suffered a lot as a result, almost as though he was back in Torts’ system at CBJ. I think we see his scoring up quite a bit under Cassidy – to the tune of 25g and 60 pts. But that opinion and $5 (these days) will get you a cup of coffee. 🙂
THE hockey GOD
O6
who was in net for the VGK in game 7 against the sharks ?
Was it the face of franchise, or farce of franchise? Which one showed up.
As far as pDB never talking to MAF, I saw him talking to him in practices, on the bench, and anyone who says otherwise is just trying to stir the pot.
VGK Fan
Mike StG,
You nailed it on Lehner. Although, I will give him credit he did play well in the bubble and I wish him well on his recovery.
Right or wrong VGK also hurt themselves financially with the decisions they have made over the last few years in handling player personnel. Gone is a 6,000 person wait list for season tickets. In fact they had to reduce season ticket prices to attract new season ticket holders this year.
Before anyone out there blames Covid-19 for the loss of the wait list consider other sports franchise and there wait list still exist. I’ve had season tickets since year 2 and have two years left on contract I will continue to attend at least 40 games a year and plan to renew my tickets in the future.
But VGK management must beware there is a problem.
Mike StG
VGK Fan,
You are a true fan. I travel a lot on business plus my wife works graveyard and the games interfere with her sleep schedule. One year I had partial season pass and it worked out okay, but now I just go to games that fit our schedule or whenI can go with a hockey buddy of mine.
I agree Lehner was and believe he still is a very good goalie. It’s disappointing to see ‘fans’ gleefully cheering his injury status. He plays in net so differently than Fleury and his style is neither graceful nor athletic by comparison. It’s unfortunate.
The one thing I will say about the FO’s decisions is that the cap freeze due to Covid was a huge negative impact that no team could anticipate, especially one as aggressively making player decisions to try and win the cup as Vegas.
The Lehner acquisition was just before Covid hit. They signed Petro the previous off-season. Yes they had cap issues, but the expectation was that in ~2 years the cap would rise significantly due to the pending new TV deals in the US and Canada. That would’ve happened if not for Covid, which resulted in financial losses that impacted cap calculations. The league is now looking at that substantial cap increase around 2024. One cannot ignore that the presumption of those increases had a big influence on player decisions Vegas made in the 2018-2020 timeframe.
Yes, Eichel was after that. But realistically, WHEN would Vegas ever be able to draft and develop an elite center of his caliber? Given their success the first 4 years they’d never get a draft pick lower than late 1st round. Plus they’d then have to spend time developing that player. All their eggs were in the Cody Glass basket, and when he bombed out they had no one else. Krebs was good but not an elite center – probably a C2 at best. Karlsson isn’t really a C1, he’s a very good C2. So, if they’re going to try and win now the Eichel decision made sense, though it was costly in the impact to the roster given their cap situation.
If they can add a good forward they should be pretty good this year – a playoff team at the least. We can only hope, and try to enjoy the team we have. Remember before 2017 when we had NO team? 🙂
Emmanuel
If VGK get a G it’ll be after the start of the season, they’ll be teams with 3 G or 2 expensive G. There’s no rush and I get the feeling Cassidy is going to clamp down defensively.
THE hockey GOD
emmanuel, I agree, but a lot can happen between now, training camp, and start of season. Remember in season one they had a spat of goalie injuries and relied on second, third , stringers ! (is Subban available?)
oh he’s no good ?”Feelin’ better now that we’re through
Feelin’ better, ’cause I’m over you
I learned my lesson, it left a scar
Now I see how you really are
You’re no good
You’re no good
You’re no good
Baby, you’re no good
I’m gonna say it again
You’re no good
You’re no good
You’re no good
Baby, you’re no good”
from Rise of Gru
via Linda Ronstad.
Original 6✅
@THG. gm 7 with pavs oscar performance should of been 2 min cross check. one goal done. back to full strength. I was there happened direct in front of me. i actually blame Gallant for not calling time after the first goal. but penalty was bulshit and obviously was a momentum changer cuz up to that penalty it was all knights in a landslide. But unfortunately we seen it in all sports a bad call leads to a loss. saints Rams semi final. so many in baseball. etc. As for him talking to MAF. Don’t mean nothing. Best goalie plays. The entire Habs series he should of played after that weak goal under a min in gm. which has happened to every goalie. including Grant Fuhr obviously it’s only my view of De Boring. but what i seen how he coached vs Habs was enough for me ! Knights got lucky with Cassidy and up til a 11 yr old told me he was a hawk his career was a surprised cuz i new that team and didn’t remember him once . I think he will get Karlsson playing like he used to be & the rest of the team will be held accountable . Hope he sits them if they go thru motions. only time will tell