Pens have contributed to Knights’ success
Hockey fans, there are a few names that you should start to get very familiar with, because in a league like the NHL, where coaches and front office members move around quite freely, owners are always on the lookout for the next individual who can guide their team to the Stanley Cup.
As the 2017-18 season rolls along, I’m guessing the 702 area code will become one of the most popular around the league.
Those three numbers are at the beginning of every Las Vegas phone number, including the one that goes to the office phones of the Vegas Golden Knights. Considering the job done by general manager George McPhee, assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon and head coach Gerard Gallant, those phone lines are going to be hotter than the midday sun in Sin City.
As of Jan. 9, the Knights have not only stayed out of the cellar during their first season of existence, but have made themselves right at home in the penthouse. Vegas has piled up 60 points, the second-most in the NHL, thanks to its 29-10-2 record. If the season ended today, the first-year franchise would be the top seed in the Western Conference.
For Penguin fans, there are several familiar faces playing a major role in this unforeseen fast start to the team’s existence. One of them is the smiling visage of a certain French Canadian goalie who has proven that he still has plenty left in the tank.
An early-season concussion hampered the start of Marc-Andre Fleury’s Vegas career. However, the 33-year-old is healthy and back as the team’s top net-minder. After 12 starts (9-2-1), Fleury has already regained his elite form that Pittsburgh fans enjoyed for over a decade. Though he doesn’t yet qualify for the NHL statistical leaders because of his lack of ice time, his 1.73 goals against average and .941 save percentage are both better than the numbers put up by Carter Hutton of the Saint Louis Blues, who leads in both categories.
The Flower is not the only former Penguin to help lead the Golden Knights to their unexpectedly quick start. Winger David Perron holds the dual distinction of leading his current team in assists (29) and penalty minutes (32), while also tallying the third-most total points (34). The talented, but mercurial James Neal hasn’t allowed any attitude issues, perceived or otherwise, to hinder his effectiveness. He has racked up the team’s second-most goals (18) and is tied with Perron with 29 points.
Veteran Deryk Engelland, who spent five years in Pittsburgh, is one of the key contributors on the Golden Knight defense. He boasts a plus-nine rating, and has appeared in all but one of the team’s 41 games this year. Over the last five of those contests, he’s averaging around 20 minutes per contest. Engelland has also made contributions to the offense with 13 total points on three goals and 10 assists.
So far, the Knights’ winning ways haven’t equated to the sort of attendance numbers that ownership would like to see on a regular basis. Their 17,872 fans per game average at T-Mobile Arena ranks 17th in the league. However, in a town with a night life like Las Vegas, telling the locals and tourists alike to spend three hours in a chilly rink may be a bit of a tough sell.
Few leagues have more of a “what have you done for me lately” mentality than the NHL. If one of the more expectation-laden franchises, like say Philadelphia or the New York Islanders, the bottom two teams in the East, continue to flounder through the year, the brain trust that seems to be sending Vegas soaring to the top of the league just may be getting a lot of money thrown their way.
While I can’t say for sure if a move would lead to a similar level of success, it would make for one interesting experiment.