An expansion team in its inaugural year can make it to the Western Conference Finals and possibly finals and of course possibly become Stanley Cup Champions. This would never happen in any other sport. Admittedly I dont know much about hockey but does it say something about the lack of skill level needed in order to play this game, that there isnt a wide distance between the best and worst nhl players, what gives?
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That's the good part though. It isn't controlled by 3 teamsComment -
in all seriousness there are several factors, so I'll attempt giving you 2 -
1. Expansion draft rules were significantly different this year than ever before in any other sport. In hindsight, many look at the players who were made available to the Golden Knights from the other teams, and it looks like those other teams were trying to see if they could save salary with certain players who they probably shoulda kept. Couple that with the management of the Golden Knights very smartly choosing players to fit into their envisioned system, and in short you have the successful team we are all witnessing.
2. Star players in hockey make the least amount of difference compared to other sports. Every player only has possession of the puck for "seconds" not minutes in an entire game. If you follow that logic, it's why hockey is perhaps the most "team" sport there is.Comment -
Expansion draft rules for the NHL will be changed in sure if Seattle or another team joins
Knights had a giant pool of great players to choose from
I knew they'd be good , didn't think their chemistry would be as good as it is this soon
Than again Las Vegas seems like a good place to bond quickly hahaComment -
k boys, I figured it had to be because of a great expansion draft, still its crazy. thanks hotcross for keying me in on what I suspected about the talent and skill level not being as big a deal in this sport.Comment -
what are you on tar baby, nobody wants to see the same teams over and over I sure dont, which is why we will never see the tar heels make another final 4.
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keep in mind, each team features 4 staking "lines" usually (also Power Play lines)....so the pairings of the best players typically on the top line, then down it goes to Line #4 with the lower skilled players
It's been said the Knights have caliber of Line 1,2,2,3 instead of Line 1,2,3,4 due to the quality of players they drafted being a lot of #2 type players....something like thatComment -
I mean they were still getting a decent amount of players that were deemed okay to let go of, and made a shit load of trades prior to AND DURING the draft. They gamed hard, and it amazingly resulted in controlling the draft for the next 3 years. Vegas will be good for a while. While they will prob add 1 more protection player (in a panic that it worked too well) lets not think this was supposed to happen. Even with their team on paper at the start of the season, no one gave them over 60points.Comment -
Same guy the build the team trade Filip Forsberg for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Both of which quickly got booted out of the NHL. Clearly the expansion rules for building the roster need to be changed. Buttman screws up yet again. How does this guys still have a job? Ratings still stink.Comment -
NHL needs Vegas in finals or epic disaster
75 Canadians will watchComment -
Vegas now FAVORED to win Stanley Cup!
(Would change quickly though if Jets steal a game in Vegas)Comment -
Don't follow the sport at all but from the few games I've been to it seems like a better product than the other pro leagues
The fans are cult like and die hard. What Vegas is doing this year is remarkable and indicates that the NHL promotes competition that is more pure than say the nba or nfl. The very essence of sportsComment -
Viva Las Vegas - best game in the world !! REAL MEN PLAY HOCKEY!! Not a game for bitches and pu^^YSComment -
I watched the entire Vegas/Winny game last night, never once flipped the channel to Golden State/Houston. Fantastic game.
Had bet the over 5.5. Won the bet with 2 seconds to go on clock.
Compelling.Comment -
It's not about the level of skill. The skill these guys have is incredible and to diminsh what the world's best players do on a daily basis is ridiculous. I think what your question is asking is the impact of an individual vs the team as a whole. It's called strong-link vs weak-link and there has been plenty of research on it. Strong link games are ones where the best player has a strong influence on results. In contrast, in a weak link game, the team without the worst player usually wins.
Soccer is a weak link game because it's low scoring and no one player has possession of the ball for very long. Therefore their impact is reduced. Basketball is a stong link game because Curry/Lebron play all but a few minutes and have the ball in their hands for a large % of time.
Hockey falls in between. In the reg. season it's been shown as a strong link game in that the team with elite talent ends up winning. But in the playoffs I would argue it's the opposite. It's low scoring, and the top players don't touch the puck as often as opposing teams have time to game plan against specific players...time they don't have during the reg. season. This means mistakes and luck play a larger role. You can't control luck but teams with fewer weak players don't make mistakes.
That's what has happened in Vegas. Gallant is a hell of a coach and right from day one the players have bought in to the team concept and without a big name star they just don't make mistakes and have enough skill to capitalize when the other team makes mistakes.Comment -
Only reason why hockey isn’t big is because they got a dumb commissioner - no really big TV NETWORK deal besides NBCComment -
Thats exactly why NHL is the best sport, what a stupid thread.Comment -
The sport is about TEAM, not Lebron JamesComment -
NHL players also lead cleaner lives and less drama
Family guys for the most part and much more educated than NBA playersComment -
Vegas has 3 lines full of B and B+ players
They have no A players but may be the deepest team in NHL
Teams elected to keep their stars and youth during draft, freeing up a pleathrea of talented but not star players
Reminds me a lot of those Suns teams in NBA late 90s/ 00s with a bunch of borderline all stars... Marle, Mullen, Anderson, etc
Of the Raiders early 00s w Rice, Woodson, Gannon....a bunch of vets a little past prime but still players
Indians MLB of 90s w Baerga, Lofton, Rameriez, Belle, Winfield, Morris, Herscheser, etc.....just a roster of good players, no HOF... Angles too that era...Finley, Langston, Abbott, Edward's, Anderson, etc..Comment -
That's the beauty of hockey. I am a fan and STH for a WHL team in Everett, WA and our expansion year was similar, went to the league finals in the inaugural season. They beat the eventual memorial cup champs (Kelowna) in the WHL conference finals too.Comment -
Let's not forget that they scored a HOF goalie in Fluery. He played insane last night and with most, if not all other goalies currently playing Vegas loses that game.
If anyone wonders how they got him, Pitt hit the jackpot with a young Murray who is insanely good as well, so they the problem of two outstanding goalies. Vegas scored big time on thatComment -
I forgot? Did Minnesota make the PLAYOFFS PAL? LOLComment -
Carefully selected I see.
I remember at the beginning of this season when everyone had jets vs Vegas and tb vs caps in the conference finals. So easy.
No one had rockets vs warriors and of course no one predicted James would be playing in his 8th straight east finals.
How many NBA franchises won titles from 2000 - 2010? How many made it out of the West?
Only one NHL team with most regular season points have won the cup last 9 years. 8 seeds beat 1 regularlyComment
apparently troler loves when the same two teams play against each other every year and as a fan 99% of most other leagues know before the season starts they have zero chance.
