Las Vegas Golden Knights: Four wins from the greatest story ever told


Reuters/Stephen R. Sylvanie

One year ago Las Vegas had yet to play a game. They did not have a roster. 

Yet, here we are. The Knights enter a Stanley Cup final in their first year of existence. 

To put that into perspective, four sides have NEVER made the Stanley Cup final. They include Arizona, Winnipeg, Minnesota and Columbus. 

Moreover, there are seven sides yet to make an appearance since the year 2000.

Basically, what this means is the Golden Knights have done something not one person could have reasonably predicted this past summer. 

Greatest sport story

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Reuters/Stephen R. Sylvanie

When Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016 the world of sport was in awe at the clubs magnificent and unprecedented achievement.

Arguably, that was the greatest underdog story since the turn of the century. A team that had only been in the Premier League for two seasons, survived by the skin of their teeth in year one somehow went on to win the league the following year.

Leicester City had their own cast of characters which performed at their maximum just like Vegas. Top scorer Jamie Vardy can be compared to William Karlsson. Creative force and goalscorer Riyad Mahrez is similar to Jonathan Marschessauts. Veteran defensemen Deryk Engelland could easily be compared to Leicester captain Wes Morgan.

And so the similarities are actually quite unbelievable. Leicester were the first ‘shock’ Premier League winner - no team since 1992, when the league reformed, have won the league without being one of the prime contenders.

Hockey has had its surprises in the past, Carolina in 2006, LA in 2012 won the cup after being the last seeded team in the west. 

But Vegas’s accomplishments blow every other achievement in NHL history out of the water - such has been the shock of them reaching the Stanley Cup final. 

Can they win?

When Leicester City won the Premier League they were still never considered true contenders until the final ten games. People questioned their credentials and waited for them to implode - they did not.

Now Vegas are in the final, fans around the world are expecting the Expansion side to fall at some stage. 

This story, though, could easily have the happiest of endings and I predict that we will see the Knights hoist the cup come seven games time.

Las Vegas Golden Knights - Stanley Cup Champions 2018. A headline no one ever predicted but it could be all over the sports media in just two weeks. 

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