Are the Golden Knights the greatest sports story of all time?
When a sports team is starting out, most observers set a very low bar for expectations. The hope is the first season isn’t too disastrous, there’s gradual improvement over the next five to 10 years, and the team eventually becomes a playoff contender.
There are rare exceptions to this rule. Consider the Vegas Golden Knights, which is having one of the most successful inaugural seasons of any North American-based team.
The National Hockey League’s newest franchise won its first game, home opener and was the last undefeated team in the 2017-18 regular season. It won the Pacific Division title, the first expansion team to accomplish this feat since the New York Rangers in the 1926-27 season. It broke the total points record (83) for an NHL team in its inaugural year, finishing with 109. It’s gone 12-3 in the playoffs to date, beating the Los Angeles Kings (four games), San Jose Sharks (six games) and Winnipeg Jets (five games).
The Golden Knights are not only Western Conference champions, but they’ve also reached the Stanley Cup Finals. Only two expansion teams have ever accomplished this: the 1917-18 Toronto Arenas (in the NHL’s first season) and the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues (they played in a division of expansion teams and reached the Cup final by beating those same squads).