Vegas Golden Knights are your 2023 Stanley Cup Champions!

[hangman005]

Fun fact: Chandler Stephenson is the first player to win two cups in Vegas

 

[TheBeard]

I do love all these "Clearly we're not a hockey town" sarcastic posts at the absolute height of when any town would be out and about. I'm pretty sure Arizona would probably be doing the same things if they won a cup.

Also, for a town that claims they don't care what people think, they're trying awfully hard to change what people think.

 

[HanSolo]

I do love all these "Clearly we're not a hockey town" sarcastic posts at the absolute height of when any town would be out and about. I'm pretty sure Arizona would probably be doing the same things if they won a cup.

Also, for a town that claims they don't care what people think, they're trying awfully hard to change what people think.

It gets tiring seeing people find any and every excuse to criticize the city and the fans. I mean the narrative on Saturday was dead parade because people hung out closer to the arena.

But no surprise you have no issue with any of the criticism but you're sure to cry foul when Vegas people fire back.

As usual, talking shit about Vegas, the team, the players, the fans=A okay

Vegas fans opening their mouth to refute anything said about them=unacceptable

 

[TheBeard]

I mean the narrative on Saturday was dead parade because people hung out closer to the arena.

I think that was dumb because it's clear that the parade was lit.

However, i also don't think basking in the afterglow of a championship defines a city's fandom. I'm always going to bend over backwards for my GF after a little... you know... but I'm not so keen to be around her when we're fighting.

 

[HanSolo]

I think that was dumb because it's clear that the parade was lit.

However, i also don't think basking in the afterglow of a championship defines a city's fandom. I'm always going to bend over backwards for my GF after a little... you know... but I'm not so keen to be around her when we're fighting.

Of course it doesn't. Only time will tell how the Golden Knights and their fanbase will endure the first rebuild period. But I mean, from what I gather from your body of work of posts, you're big gripe is that Las Vegas didn't give much of a shit about hockey before expansion. I'd get into how it was one of the strongest TV markets without a team of their own but there's a number of factors that could influence those numbers so I'll skip it. Point is, how is that different from Dallas, Tampa Bay, Florida, etc. The entire point of Southern expansion is to grow the market for the sport of hockey and NHL fandom. It's worked in some markets, failed in others, hit at or below the median for others.

Griping about how Vegas didn't have some enduring tradition as a hockey town before 2017 is just a facile argument at the end of the day. A fanbase always starts somewhere, and two championship runs with one victory early on can only help. But all this slinging shit at Vegas fans because God forbid we're privileged with our team's success and haven't suffered enough..its not encouraging fans to commit their love and attention to the sport and actually open up to learn and pay attention to the rest of the league and its history. All it is is gatekeeping and telling fans in a non traditional market that they aren't welcome. And frankly, it's pathetic.

Like our league is doing so well that we have no room for casuals to become diehards.

 

[TheBeard]

Of course it doesn't. Only time will tell how the Golden Knights and their fanbase will endure the first rebuild period. But I mean, from what I gather from your body of work of posts, you're big gripe is that Las Vegas didn't give much of a shit about hockey before expansion. I'd get into how it was one of the strongest TV markets without a team of their own but there's a number of factors that could influence those numbers so I'll skip it. Point is, how is that different from Dallas, Tampa Bay, Florida, etc. The entire point of Southern expansion is to grow the market for the sport of hockey and NHL fandom. It's worked in some markets, failed in others, hit at or below the median for others.

Griping about how Vegas didn't have some enduring tradition as a hockey town before 2017 is just a facile argument at the end of the day. A fanbase always starts somewhere, and two championship runs with one victory early on can only help. But all this slinging shit at Vegas fans because God forbid we're privileged with our team's success and haven't suffered enough..its not encouraging fans to commit their love and attention to the sport and actually open up to learn and pay attention to the rest of the league and its history. All it is is gatekeeping and telling fans in a non traditional market that they aren't welcome. And frankly, that's pathetic.

Frankly, I didn't care much for the "didn't suffer enough" argument. The only aspect of it I can understand is knowing what it's like to be on the low side before the high side, especially for those who never cared much for the sport (as opposed to those who'd come over from different fanbases). The ridiculous hyperbole of "this is easy" or "I can clearly see a dynasty", while not indicative of the fanbase as a whole, certainly defines a majority of the loudest portion. There's a lot of arrogance currently, much of it allowed (as If what I say means anything) because of their success, but a lot of it also stems from a lack of understanding as to what it looks like from the other side of the pillow. I think, right now, and it's going to sound weird, but there's too much fandom happening now. What I mean is the honeymoon phase of the team has transcended just mere sports. Like for many their goal is to be so over the top in their fandom that they come off as desperately trying to prove something to those that say they fanbase isn't "old or experienced" enough. Either way, it is what it is. Enjoy the moments now, as a fan of a rival team, I look forward to the days of darkness for y'all, but strictly from a sports perspective.

 

[HanSolo]

Frankly, I didn't care much for the "didn't suffer enough" argument. The only aspect of it I can understand is knowing what it's like to be on the low side before the high side, especially for those who never cared much for the sport (as opposed to those who'd come over from different fanbases). The ridiculous hyperbole of "this is easy" or "I can clearly see a dynasty", while not indicative of the fanbase as a whole, certainly defines a majority of the loudest portion. There's a lot of arrogance currently, much of it allowed (as If what I say means anything) because of their success, but a lot of it also stems from a lack of understanding as to what it looks like from the other side of the pillow. I think, right now, and it's going to sound weird, but there's too much fandom happening now. What I mean is the honeymoon phase of the team has transcended just mere sports. Like for many their goal is to be so over the top in their fandom that they come off as desperately trying to prove something to those that say they fanbase isn't "old or experienced" enough. Either way, it is what it is. Enjoy the moments now, as a fan of a rival team, I look forward to the days of darkness for y'all, but strictly from a sports perspective.

I've never seen or heard a single golden knights fan say anything like this. The closest I've seen is fans being slightly overconfident about our repeat chances, but it's not impossible, and it's not weird for fans of any championship team to start thinking about repeats. And then the other side of the coin is people on Twitter responding with pictures of golden knights players holding the cup when the "suffering" business is mentioned.

Past that I don't know where you're finding these tools you're talking about but even within that, casual fans with deficient knowledge and/or stupid opinions aren't limited to Vegas. I'd speculate the bigger the fanbase, the more of them you're going to find. But regardless, I appreciate the overall scope of the response. Don't entirely agree with all of it but I can agree that you'll reap as much enjoyment from Vegas' inevitable dark days as Knights, Kings, and Ducks fans are at San Jose's current state. Just how the wheel turns.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

 

[BattleBorn]

Of course it doesn't. Only time will tell how the Golden Knights and their fanbase will endure the first rebuild period. But I mean, from what I gather from your body of work of posts, you're big gripe is that Las Vegas didn't give much of a shit about hockey before expansion. I'd get into how it was one of the strongest TV markets without a team of their own but there's a number of factors that could influence those numbers so I'll skip it. Point is, how is that different from Dallas, Tampa Bay, Florida, etc. The entire point of Southern expansion is to grow the market for the sport of hockey and NHL fandom. It's worked in some markets, failed in others, hit at or below the median for others.

Griping about how Vegas didn't have some enduring tradition as a hockey town before 2017 is just a facile argument at the end of the day. A fanbase always starts somewhere, and two championship runs with one victory early on can only help. But all this slinging shit at Vegas fans because God forbid we're privileged with our team's success and haven't suffered enough..its not encouraging fans to commit their love and attention to the sport and actually open up to learn and pay attention to the rest of the league and its history. All it is is gatekeeping and telling fans in a non traditional market that they aren't welcome. And frankly, it's pathetic.

Like our league is doing so well that we have no room for casuals to become diehards.

Always an underappreciated statistic, and one that was in my arsenal for the expansion that I just kind of forgot.

None of our minor league teams left due to lack of support, just being in a city where the arena time pays more for things other than AHL/ECHL hockey. Non-Vegas city, there would probably be two hockey teams in town.

 

[BattleBorn]

Some people do get mad bout Vegas winning doe

 

[Vegan Knight]

Some people do get mad bout Vegas winning doe

We're the villains of the NHL.

And with the Raiders reputation preceding them and the A's being villains of the move, I imagine all Vegas sports will have to embrace the heel label.

I believe when the Runnin Rebels were successful they had that reputation too, maybe it's just something about the city.

 

[Pandaman11]

Did you see the AHL Final? And when will we finally get to see a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 OT instead of the usual blowouts??

In recent memory, only in 2019 we came close, but thank you Tuukka...

 

[JEM28]

Did you see the AHL Final? And when will we finally get to see a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 OT instead of the usual blowouts??

In recent memory, only in 2019 we came close, but thank you Tuukka...

Goal 1 = Tuuka
Goal 2 = Marchand
Goals 3&4 = unstoppable after defensive breakdowns

Bruins scored once...with 2 minutes left in game. Binnington was incredible.

But it's Rask's fault
OK