After eliminating four opponents and recording 16 Stanley Cup Playoff wins, the Golden Knights racked up dozens of special moments to choose from. We cut them down to the Top 6 of the playoffs but the list is truly incomplete. We could do a Top 6 Fan Moments list or a Top 6 Jonathan Marchessault Moments list. The options are endless. Sticking with the formula, here are the VGK’s Top 6 Stanley Cup Playoff Moments.
6. Hill Bag Punches the Panthers in SCF Game 4
@adin_hill threw some Punches defending himself after the @GoldenKnights won game 4. Golden Knights lead the series 3-1 and go back to T-Mobile Arena for game 5 for a chance at winning the Stanley Cup on home ice! pic.twitter.com/ye5mXQvPkc
— #WeLoveYouCarey #GoHabsGo (@HillWonTheCup33) June 11, 2023
Cup-winning goaltender Adin Hill took plenty of liberties in the playoffs, especially in the Final. Hill wasn’t having any of Matthew Tkachuk or Sam Bennett’s antics, so he used his blocker, glove, and fists to stand his ground. In Game 4, the Golden Knights goalie lost his cool and went into full Mike Tyson mode. After Bennett ripped Hill’s helmet off, the Panthers forward likely wished he hadn’t. With the help of William Karlsson, Bennett was savagely beaten to the ice with bare knuckles. It was a sight to see and VGK fans loved every minute of it.
We’ve covered goal-scoring, playmaking and goaltending so let’s focus on off the ice. During their eight-week run, the Golden Knights had many memorable quotes throughout the postseason. In fact, there are enough comments from Golden Knights players to fill out a Top 26 list. However, let’s focus on VGK’s six most entertaining quotes of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
6. Pietrangelo Shrugs Off Slashing Suspension in the Second Round
It is what it is, I’m not going to sit here and dwell on it. The league took care of it, so we’ll move on… There have been a lot of shots both ways, I’ll just say that. It’s pretty obvious what’s going on, there’s some premeditated stuff coming at me but (the Department of Player Safety) didn’t really seem to care in the meeting. I’ll get up and take it. I’m not going to lay on the ice like we’ve been seeing. I’ll get up and play the game the way it needs to be played. At the end of the day, we’ve got a job to do, they’ve got a job to do. – Alex Pietrangelo
When lead defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was suspended for his slash on Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in the second round no one was surprised. It was a heat-of-the-moment situation and unlike anything Vegas fans had ever seen before from #7. However, Pietrangelo stated his case to the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, and they required the d-man to sit for one game, much to the chagrin of the Oilers and their fans. When asked, Pietrangelo didn’t hold back.
Over the weekend the Golden Knights became the big story around the league and I’m sure it caught them off guard. It was probably even more unsettling as the club was bonding and preparing for the long season ahead up in Montana at owner Bill Foley’s ranch. The tweet storm might have made for some awkward moments at team breakfast.
Let’s rewind to earlier last week when outspoken goaltender Robin Lehner joined the boys at Spittin’ Chiclets to chat about an array of topics. As Vegas fans have learned in a little more than a year, Lehner’s honesty is refreshing.
Tuesday, September 28th – Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast Released
Lehner discussed his status in net and how he professionally handled the Marc-Andre Fleury goaltending controversy.
I respect what he did actually, he stuck up for his client. It screwed me a bit. It wasn’t the greatest time… It turned up the heat. It really did. This is probably the most pressured season I’ve had coming into this year. It’s fueled by the narrative of how everything was left and the whole (Fleury) trade.-Robin Lehner on Spittin’ Chiclets
Lehner also spoke about the Jack Eichel injury standoff with Buffalo and had heavy criticism for the Sabres organization.
I hate it. I know they put investments into us but I still think your body is your body. End of story. If Eichel wants to make his surgery and they are scared of protecting their investment, how hard could it be to have him sign a waiver? Is something goes wrong he doesn’t get paid. It bothers me because Jack Eichel is a world class talent. We didn’t always see eye to eye but I respect him as a person. Am I saying this to trash the Sabres? No I’m not. If I wanted to hurt the Sabres I would have but they destroyed my ankle that year.- Lehner on Spittin’ Chiclets
The Golden Knights goaltender suggested the NHL has stale “dinosaur” type executives and coaches that control the league and push their agenda’s even though sports and the world have changed.
We’re all robots. Everyone says the same thing. I understand 20 years ago but it’s 2021 now. Am I going to tell a player to be open and honest now? I know a lot of people have but yes they’re going to be punished.-Lehner on Spittin’ Chiclets
Wednesday, September 29th – Lehner plays first preseason game
Lehner suited up for his first start of the preseason getting some important ice time. The #1 starter stopped 20 of 22 shots.
Friday, October 1st – Lehner tweets his feelings about the Jack Eichel situation in Buffalo
Lehner stressed that it should be the players choice when it comes to their body.
Where is the @nhlpa and all nhl players in all this attacks on our freedom of choice? Jack situation is crazy to me.. also people getting attacked by journalist that hides behind freedom of speech to trash peoples freedom of choice. When does the hypocrisy end? #lifeaftercareer
Sunday, October 3rd – Lehner calls out Philadelphia Flyers coach Alain Vigneault for his tactics handling injured players
Lehner labels Vigneault a dinosaur coach and calls for his firing.
#PhiladelphiaFlyers ? Dinosaur coach treating people robots not human. Fire these dinosaurs. Fire #vigneault first story. I got proof.. try to shake your way out of this one ….
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reacts to Lehner’s tweets and suggested players shouldn’t be forced to tweet out internal information. Bettman also added that the league has services available to players.
We take his comments seriously and we’d like in short order to be in a conversation with him so we can hear his concerns directly and we’re going to follow up to see what merit there may be to his concerns. You don’t have to tweet to get our attention. We have an 800 number people can call. You can call us directly, we’re an open book. But if he has concerns we want to hear them and see how they need to be addressed.-Gary Bettman with SportsNet’s Jeff Marek
Philadelphia Flyers coach Alain Vigneault responds to Lehner’s strong accusations.
I consider myself experienced. A dinosaur? You could say with experience you become a dinosaur maybe. But I do know I’ve been coaching a few years and I am tough, I am demanding but I care about my players. Through the years probably there are some guys who liked me and probably some a little less, but I’ve done it with the best intention (and) with respect.- Alain Vigneault, Flyers coach
Vigneault was confused and disappointed about the idea of him pushing prescription pills.
I was obviously very disappointed, as far as me pushing pills, I don’t need another income. I have no idea where that comes from. I don’t know what else to say. I have no idea.- Alain Vigneault, Flyers coach
Chances are the league and possibly the Golden Knights front office are scrambling to squash the accusations, but would also like to listen to Lehner’s concerns. Expect more developments to come down this week.
We were told it would only be on helmets, and that it wasn’t necessarily permanent. Well, now it is and it just got a lot worse for stiff traditionalists like myself.
The NHL board of governors unanimously voted to approve the ad policy, according to a memo emailed this week to all 32 teams. Clubs are now free to start negotiating with potential partners, according to the memo… The ads must fit a rectangle 3 inches by 3.5 inches, making them slightly bigger than the patches that the NBA added to its jerseys for the 2017-18 season. –Sportico
It’s been no secret the league has been exploring the idea of selling ads on jerseys.
Bettman said the NHL will continue logos on helmets. Ads on jerseys will not be in place next season.
To be fair, it’s hard to blame the NHL and its owners for their apparent decision. After almost two unprofitable seasons adding a sponsor patch is nothing more than making up lost revenue. Plus the league already witnessed what a small tweak could do for their bottom line. According to Bettman, the team partnerships generated an additional $100M for the league by introducing advertisements on players’ helmets. Just imagine what prime real estate on a player’s jersey would be worth. Toss in that any ad patch will be clearly visible on TV, it’s an easy sell for the Golden Knights. With that potential, it’s a wonder why all 32 franchises unanimously voted in favor for the 2022-23 regular season.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s inevitable. It’s something that makes good sense for us to be considering and looking at but certainly not for next season. Beyond that, I’m not prepared to predict but it’s something we’re looking at. -Gary Bettman, March 2021
The NBA began selling jersey space in 2017 and since then fans have gotten over the initial eyesore. At this point, the paid stitching above looks like it’s been above the team name for decades. The NHL is hoping for the same type of acceptance from hockey fans, as they received after the introduction of helmet ads. However, there’s a big difference between an NBA tank top and an NHL sweater.
In the past NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had addressed jersey ads and shrugged at the idea of them. However, Bettman said it would take an unusual circumstance to open up that door. After an unexpected pandemic leaving owners with 31 empty buildings for an entire season was the situation he was dreading.
The jersey is especially valuable real estate for marketers, who benefit from a lot of TV exposure during games. For a long time the NBA wouldn’t even let Adidas, its jersey provider at the time, put its logo on the top of the uniforms, keeping that space solely for the league’s own marks. –Sportico
Well if you’re like me it’ll take adjusting. The Golden Knights uniforms may not be historically recognized like an original six jersey but they are sharp and look fine the way it does now. An off-colored patch may become a distraction on the shoulder of a clean white Golden Knights road sweater. Or a poorly chosen partner with an obtrusive logo might mess up Vegas’ bold home greys. I know I’m stretching but an untouched uniform is the proper way to dress a club. Unless we crowdfund for enough to stitch on a SinBin logo.
Before the announcement of the Golden Knights in 2016, professional sports seemed like a long shot in Las Vegas. Baseless theories of legal, local gambling influencing the outcome of games were used as excuses. When in reality, the thought of millionaire athletes risking their careers and future contracts to fix one game is, and was always, far-fetched.
Rewind five years, surprising to some the NHL took the risk and became the first league to crack the Las Vegas market. However, as revealed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman the NHL is still concerned with gambling and the integrity of the game but has nothing to do with Nevada. The league proved that last week when they harshly punished veteran official Tim Peel. The last thing the NHL could afford was a corrupt official like infamous NBA referee Tim Donaghy.
There were deep conversations about how damaging it is to your league during a crisis of consumer confidence. The CBA between the NHL and its officials now contains specific code-of-conduct references: ‘Each official agrees to abstain from habits of intemperance, gambling, immorality or other conduct likely to bring himself and/or the NHL and/or the game of Hockey into disrepute or which results in the impairment of public confidence in the honest and orderly conduct of NHL games or the integrity and good character of its officials.’ -Elliotte Friedman, 31 Thoughts on Sportsnet
Last week the NHL quickly nipped a potential controversy in the bud when the official’s hot mic became a major story.
Initially, the story had absolutely nothing to do with gambling, but because of past issues in other sports, the NHL made a tough stand to ensure fans their product is genuine. Without transparency, gambling on hockey could be eliminated, and sadly to say, the interest in the sport would decrease significantly, not to mention millions in lost endorsement money for the league.
The NHL announced last week that the league is looking into purchasing COVID-19 vaccines for the entire league. The report didn’t go over well with hockey fans, including this fanbase. However, the NHL stressed they wouldn’t skip the line when vaccines were made available. After all, it was designed to save lives and stop the spread, not to resume hockey.
For clarification…
The NHL is interested in securing vaccine when and if it’s available for private purchase.
Is it at this point? — no.
The league also is adamant they would not jump the line to do so.
The NHL made it known they would not take vaccines away from the public. Unfortunately, the league clarified their statement after the flack they received from fans. Even vaccine providers like Pfizer went out of their way to ensure to concerned citizens that millionaire hockey players won’t jump ahead them.
If private organizations, companies or someone like the NFL or the NHL approached you to buy vaccines, would you sell to them? –Mercedes Stephenson, The West Block
Right now, we are fully committed and built our global supply plan based upon the contracts that we’ve signed with governments, and so we’re really deferring to the governments to figure out what the best way is to allocate their product. We absolutely would love to respond to all the individual inquiries we’ve received, but we really feel that government is in the best position to determine an equitable distribution among its population. -Cole Pinnow, Pfizer Canada CEO
In other words, Pfizer didn’t develop a vaccine so professional athletes can get back to work. They designed it so you can get back to work.
It’s clear the NHL is in a financial crunch. Unlike the other major pro sports leagues in North America, hockey is trying to scrounge up coins buried deep in couch cushions. The league and its players need to find ways to grow revenue and it needs to happen soon. Some have suggested the Seattle Kraken organization pay half of their entry fee now to help the league get through tough times. Others have suggested extending the postseason, but there’s one that stuck out as an easy, smart way to make a buck.
If I was a player, I’d be talking about expanded playoffs and ads on jerseys. Bettman has said in the past the number has got to be worth it. Something small in a corner but enough that you know it’s there. No more of this it’s tradition… It’s time. –Elliotte Friedman on 31 Thoughts Podcast
I tend to lean more towards the traditional side of sports. I don’t want robot officials, I can’t stand visiting teams wearing their white sweaters and I hate advertisements on team jerseys. That’s up until now. The 2020-21 season is on the line and whatever the league can do to make it work, needs to happen.
It’s true jersey advertisements break tradition. They can potentially tarnish an already perfect team sweater by making it look cheap and commercialized. Overall it’s bad idea, but in this economy making money is all that counts. Especially if revenue from jersey sponsorships can get this NHL season off the ground. Using the NBA as an example, corporate ads can bring in bags full of cash.
So far, 19 of the 30 NBA teams have teamed up with an advertiser… The Warriors are getting $20 million a year for three years for the Rakuten ad on the upper left chest of their jerseys… –Steven Kutz, MarketWatch
The issue with business sponsorships on jerseys is finding the right fit, for the right cost. Most importantly, how to make sure they don’t become an on-ice eyesore.
It’s one of the worst kept secrets, the city of Las Vegas is the front runner to become one of the NHL’s playoff hubs.
I think out West that Vegas is virtually a lock. I don’t know that there’s one perfect place but I sense that Vegas has an inside track.-Ray Ferraro, Ray & Dregs podcast
With the decision still in the hands of the league, TSN insider’s Ray Ferraro and Darren Dreger spoke with Commissioner Gary Bettman about the plan to return to play and the selected hubs. Which could impact the Golden Knights and our city.
Ep. 32 @rayanddregs guest @NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman talks hub cities, potential Canadian 14-day quarantine rule workarounds and timelines to make a final decision.
— The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast (@rayanddregs) May 29, 2020
I’m going to have to make a decision collectively on this probably in about three weeks. I think in two weeks we’ll start narrowing down even further. Somewhere around three weeks we’re going to have to pull the trigger and start finalizing the arrangements and make our deposits. -Bettman
Over the past two months, we’ve covered every reason why Las Vegas makes sense to the NHL, but the decision really falls on the local and state governments. Bettman’s mention that any decision was still weeks away helps the city government assess the logistics. Once elected officials make their decision, the NHL can choose Las Vegas or not. Personally, I have a feeling that both parties would like to come to an agreement.
The NHL pause has become the newest, most addicting daily soap opera. Every morning fans wake up to read the latest news on the NHL’s plans to restart the season. Yesterday, Commissioner Gary Bettman shared his optimism with the NHL network.
We have a great deal of flexibility in terms of when we can start. There’s no magic for next season of starting in October as we traditionally do. If we have to start in November or December, that’s something that will be under consideration. We’re going to try and make good, prudent, careful judgments. This isn’t a race to be first back. When we come back, we want it to be at the right time, for the right reasons, under the right circumstances. -Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner
Now that the players and owners are engaging in daily conversations it shows the effort to recover the season from both sides. One scenario NHL officials have mulled over was originally conceived by Major League Baseball.
MLB is considering a three-division, 10-team plan in which teams play only within their division – a concept gaining support among owners and executives. It would abolish the traditional American and National Leagues, and realign the divisions based on geography.
The plan, pending approval of medical experts and providing that COVID-19 testing is available to the public, would eliminate the need for players to be in isolation and allow them to still play at their home ballparks while severely reducing travel. -USA Today
TSN’s Bob McKenzie weighed on the possibility of the NHL taking the realignment approach, specifically reducing travel which allows players to play in locations closer to their homes and families.
If they get four sites, and we kind of assumed it would try to be done divisionally if they try to get the 19-20 season finished up. Four NHL sites, one for each division. There is the possibility that they would just say ‘well the Atlantic division is going to based out of Toronto. We’re not going to do can’t that, Florida and Tampa Bay can’t get from Florida up to Toronto. We’ll put them with some of the Metro teams, and move one of those Metro teams.’ You could do some mixing and matching on geographical lines versus divisions. -Bob McKenzie, TSN Analyst
As a Patriots fan, I tend to lose interest after the first ten picks of an NFL draft. For the good part of two decades, New England would select towards the end of the draft, or trade out of the first round like they did last Thursday. However, the idea of a virtual draft fascinated me, and after the first pick I was hooked. Obviously things were different this year, but the NFL set a good standard for the NHL to follow.
For the most part, the NFL’s virtual draft went well, even the glitches and missteps fit. It was actually quite refreshing considering the current times. Viewers weren’t expecting everything to run smoothly when the commissioner is announcing the selections from his basement and players are finding out through FaceTime. But somehow they made it work and it was entertaining.
When you think about the amount of people that are in separate places I thought it went really smooth. It was interesting to see, you get a little peak into everybody’s personality. I thought some of the outfits were interesting. -Brad Treliving, Flames GM
The digital minds at the NHL need to be as loose and self-deprecating as the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell were. The normally stiff Goodell wasn’t as awkward as expected. He stole a page from Gary Bettman, embracing the boos from NFL fans. Heck, the first round even featured a wardrobe change by the commissioner. Bettman should skip that step, hockey fans don’t care what he is or isn’t wearing.
So how can the NHL enhance their virtual draft?
Certainly our draft is going to be remote, that would be safe to say. For sure I’m going to be watching (the NFL draft) and doing a lot of homework on not only that, but different ideas of how we could potentially do our draft. -Treliving
A virtual draft allows for imagination and innovation, and hopefully the league uses the opportunity to loosen up and entertain. Show us Bettman’s basement. Have cams set up to show players and their families huddled around TVs. Give us a personal glimpse into the lives of the players. Invite us in to see Pete DeBoer and his children hanging out like the NFL did with Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Split screens of GM’s and players on the phone, or using FaceTime. Add some personality to a league that lacks it.
