Golden Knights sweep Avalanche, advance to 3rd Stanley Cup Final in 9 years
Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz react to the Vegas Golden Knights sweeping the Colorado Avalanche to advance to their third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV .
Video Transcript
For the third time in nine years, the Las Vegas Golden Knights are gonna play for Lord Stanley's Cup by way of a 2-1 victory over Colorado.
Now, this just in- isn't just a victory.
This is yet again an example of the NHL format, where the best team in the league rarely makes it to the end.
Remember, Colorado won the President's Trophy.
What does that mean?
That means they won the trophy for the best regular season.
What does that mean?
That means you're not gonna win the cup.
Hasn't happened since 2012, 2013.
In fact, since they started tracking the President's Trophy, only eight teams that have won that trophy have actually gone on to win the Stanley Cup.
We all know the Stanley Cup's about having a hot goalie and a balanced team.
And what do you know?
When you look at how the Golden Knights are built right now, it's a hot goalie on a balanced team.
This is a team, though, that got here not without their fair share of controversy.
Remember, they fired their head coach and brought in Torts with only eight games remaining.
There's only-- This is only the third time ever a team has replaced their coach with less than 10 games remaining in the regular season and gone on to play for the Stanley Cup.
This continues to be how Vegas is built, and I understand that is why they are the most hated team in the NHL.
A recent survey showed that the, the majority of fans hate the Golden Knights.
Why?
Because they don't go through the process the same way.
Because they didn't build a farm system.
Because they didn't worry about player development.
Because they don't seem to ever accept anything other than, "We don't like it, we're gonna rip it apart, and we'll go buy something that we do like."
That's exactly what they did.
This season is a microcosm of how Vegas is built.
Vegas will constantly look at it.
They'll tweak it.
They'll rip it apart.
They'll figure out what huge name they need to go out and acquire, and they'll do it.
They bring in Torts out of nowhere, and all of a sudden what you end up with is a team that is on fire.
In fact, when you talk to the coaches from Colorado, what do they say?
"We ran into a buzzsaw."
That's a fairly accurate description, as you see the quote there.
"We ran into a buzzsaw in Vegas.
I think they deserve the credit."
That's the incredible part.
It's not that Colorado melted down.
It's not that Colorado suddenly couldn't find the net.
It's not that Colorado lost who they were during the course of a sweep.
It's that Vegas is just that hot.
And now what do they get?
They get the glory of sitting back.
They get the glory of resting.
And they get the glory of trying to figure out who's next.
And frankly, for me, and I'll admit, I admit my fandom, I'm a Vegas Golden Knight fan, as I come from Las Vegas.
A- as I admit that fandom, it's easy for me to turn around and say, "Oh, but Carolina, should they win.
Boy, does Carolina look good."
It's the same thing I said about Colorado.
The fact is, the most important thing in the NHL is not that you're the best team.
It's that you're the hottest team with the hottest goalie and the most opportunities to score at the right time.
We see this every single year.
It's why we constantly see low seeds go in.
And this is what I tell college football fans every time they scream and yell, "Well, we're no longer gonna crown the best team as the champion."
Most sports don't.
Most sports are like the NHL, and most sports want the unprecedented, wild, I can't believe that's, that's happening.
That's what Vegas is doing right now.
Not because Vegas hasn't been there, but because nobody thought Vegas would get there this year.
Congratulations to the Golden Knights.
Third time in nine years they'll have an opportunity to try and hoist the Stanley Cup.
