What exactly are we seeing right now from Vegas?

[TheAngryHank]

Like Melrose says ,will beats skill every time.

 

[The Panther]

I think the posters pointing out how coaching dominates the sport today are correct.

Here's how recent expansion teams have done mid-way through each of their inaugural seasons (Vegas not quite being at the mid-way point yet, but nevertheless). I attempt to eliminate "loser points" from the 2000s' era to today, for comparison purposes:

2018 Vegas 24-11 (.686%)
2001 Minnesota 13-18-10 (.439%)
2001 Columbus 13-22-6 (.390%)
2000 Atlanta 10-24-4 (.293%)
1999 Nashville 14-23-4 (390%)
1994 Florida 17-17-8 (.500%)
1994 Anaheim 16-24-2 (.405%)
1993 Ottawa 3-36-3 (.107%)
1993 Tampa Bay 15-25-2 (.381%)

Not only this, but Vegas currently sits in 1st place in the Pacific. Completely unprecedented.

The only time, ever (not counting semi-expansion Edmonton in 1979-80 or when expansion teams were guaranteed a trip to the Finals in 1968), that 1st-year expansion teams were fairly competitive was 1993-94, when Florida was 4th in its division and only 1 game under .500, while Anaheim was also 4th in its division. Both teams were the best non-playoff teams in their respective Conferences.

Still, being respectable isn't the same as leading the pack after 35 games.

Clearly, the NHL has changed to the point where top-level players are not necessarily needed anymore to ice competitive teams.

Coaching rules.

 

[authentic]

Not sure if I would go quite that far, they won't finish 1st in the league or win the Stanley Cup. Of course coaching has a bigger effect now than it used to though.

 

[Stubu]

Here's how recent expansion teams have done mid-way through each of their inaugural seasons (Vegas not quite being at the mid-way point yet, but nevertheless). I attempt to eliminate "loser points" from the 2000s' era to today, for comparison purposes:

2018 Vegas 24-11 (.686%)
2001 Minnesota 13-18-10 (.439%)
2001 Columbus 13-22-6 (.390%)
2000 Atlanta 10-24-4 (.293%)
1999 Nashville 14-23-4 (390%)
1994 Florida 17-17-8 (.500%)
1994 Anaheim 16-24-2 (.405%)
1993 Ottawa 3-36-3 (.107%)
1993 Tampa Bay 15-25-2 (.381%)

Why are they all under 1%? That doesn't really look so great by any metric.

 

[Ziostilon]

more teams should play like Vegas

play as a cohesive unit, rather than as superstar individuals

 

[RageQuit77]

I had my own suspicions... but happy now in eating my crow (ish) meal.

When motley collection of misfits, expendables, doghouse-talents and roster-filler backups get their second changes together with guys sharing more or less similar past career paths, the end result can indeed be the team, far more then it's parts on a paper. Against all expectations.

Bringing together awesome team with awesome team spirit, in circumstances that makes possible for these raw diamonds to shine bright.

That happened in Vegas, and it's damn good thing for the hockey, and team sports generally. Vegas is proving that in team sports the whole working as the whole on ice is what matters more than more or less punctuated above average to elite individual stars in a roster on the paper. Best part is that Vegas is now producing those stars as well.

The proof and demonstration that Hockey is the game played on Ice, not on a office desk.

 

[Thenameless]

You've got an entire roster filled with players who were told they weren't good enough. That makes them dangerous in and of itself.

I like this reasoning. These players could have chosen to just pity themselves into hockey mediocrity and disappear in the sun belt, but instead decided to ban together and show their previous overlords how wrong they were.

 

[Dustin]

I would imagine there's a lot of us vs the world kind of mentality going on there. A lot of those players were cast aways and some I'm sure started the season looking to prove themselves to another team for a trade. Either way if I was in the West I wouldn't be too excited to play them in the first round.

 

[Thenameless]

Okay, I'll say it. I'm really rooting for them because of this. I hope they win the Stanley Cup. It would be such a Cinderella story for the NHL. This doesn't make me disloyal to the Habs does it?

 

[The Panther]

Why are they all under 1%? That doesn't really look so great by any metric.

Sorry, don't understand.

 

[Stubu]

Sorry, don't understand.

Just quipping about ratio vs percentage... not serious.

 

[Ziostilon]

Perron summed it up fairly well in that post-game interview with Jim Fox. That this team didn't have any cliques. The young guys or the swedes for instance, didn't have their own group and go to dinner together.

When they go to dinner, its a large group, the whole team per se.

It's that team cohesion, and buying into Gallant's system that wins these games.

I especially like that they're not passive on the forecheck, they don't sit in the neutral zone waiting for the other team to break through. You see two forwards deep pressuring the puck carrier.

 

[1967th Heaven]

Second half of a back to back in which they won their first game, casually go on the road and beat the next best team in their division

 

[SabresSharks]

The draft terms were much more favorable than for prior expansion teams. They were meant to make Vegas respectable - surely not necessarily a playoff team, but not a doormat either.

Regardless, all their players were let go by their previous teams, and have something to prove.

I think Gallant is widely respected around the league, and even Florida realizes they made a huge mistake firing him. Vegas lucked into a top-quality coach, but, again, someone motivated to prove himself anew.

They got off to a nice start, which can only build confidence for a collection of castoffs. Staying in the playoff race through that ridiculous stretch of goalie injuries just added to that.

I wonder if having half the crowd cheering for the visiting team many nights gave them that us-against-the-world swagger.

Whatever the reasons for their success, I hope they keep rolling. It's by far the biggest story of the season.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Perron summed it up fairly well in that post-game interview with Jim Fox. That this team didn't have any cliques. The young guys or the swedes for instance, didn't have their own group and go to dinner together.

When they go to dinner, its a large group, the whole team per se.

It's that team cohesion, and buying into Gallant's system that wins these games.

I especially like that they're not passive on the forecheck, they don't sit in the neutral zone waiting for the other team to break through. You see two forwards deep pressuring the puck carrier.

amen, thank the hockey gods for that. And they went for the win in 3v3 OT as well, didn't sit back and play chicken shit chess, even vs. a divisional opponent.

Fox also mentioned something else I thought was interesting and that was that the VGK bench was the most vocal bench he's ever been around--supportive and communicative.

 

[MessierII]

It’s remarkable no matter how it’s happening.

 

[Balthazar]

What they are doing is simply incredible

 

[HanSolo]

Tbh there's a new thread almost every game. People are definitely talking about them

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Literally the third active thread in the last 24 hours, not sure if serious

 

[izzy]

nobody shuts up about them

 

[hockeykicker]

uhhhhh ok?

 

[GodPucker]

They got the most help of any starting franchise in NHL history. I honestly didn't think they would do this well, but no way they were going to be a complete garbage team like an Arizona.

Props to them. You have a bunch of guys who are mad and want to prove something as well. Don' s it happening next season.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Visiting teams going on drunken stupors in Vegas baby.

 

[Scott Stevens]

There was that group of bleeding hearts that couldn’t shut the f*** up for like two months about Chippachovov or whatever his entitled, whining baby name was. But since there hasn’t been anything to socially justice George McPhee about lately, the keyboard warriors have been quiet about Vegas.

 

[FlamesFan18]

Because 99% of HF including myself said their garbage management drafted a garbage team. We then said their hot start was pure luck and it wouldn't last. Now we patiently wait for them to lose 40 in a row so we can talk about them again.