In year one as Vegas Golden Knights Head Coach, Gerard Gallant earns coaching duties at NHL All-Star Game.
The Vegas Golden Knights have blown doors in their first year of existence. The expansion club has gone 28-10-2 with 58 points and leads the entire Western Conference. No one could’ve predicted this kind of results over the stretch of 40 games played.
A lot of the team’s success is due to Head Coach Gerard Gallant. He has everyone on the roster buying into his system, and they’re playing it to near perfection. We knew Gallant was a great Head Coach, but I don’t think anyone expected him to have this amount of success in year one with a team in its inaugural season.
On Sunday, the NHL announced the coaches of the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa Bay. And to no surprise, Gallant is going to his second All-Star Game. He’ll be the coach of the Pacific division led by team captain Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Other coaches announced were Jon Cooper of Tampa Bay (Atlantic), Barry Trotz of Washington (Metropolitan) and Peter Laviolette of Nashville (Central).
It’s about time Gallant finally received some credit around the league. He’s one of the single reasons why the Knights are what they are. Another reason why he deserves this honor is that he’s working a ton with the younger players on this team like Alex Tuch, Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore.
Think about it, Tuch didn’t have much NHL experience at all, however now he has become a borderline top six forward. Meanwhile, Miller, Schmidt, and Theodore had limited amount of playing time with their respective old clubs, and now all are critical pieces of the Knights blue line. And why is that, it’s because of the willingness of Gallant to coach these kids up.
The Summerside, Prince Edward Island native is making a significant impact for Vegas. Not one expansion team coach will replicate these types of accomplishments Gallant is having in the history of sports. It’s no longer an NHL story folks, this is a sports story, and the Golden Knights are only gaining fans because of it.
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All in all, this is excellent news for Vegas Golden Knights fans. The next question is, who will join Gallant in Tampa for the All-Star Game? We’ll find out on Wednesday when the NHL reveals that information.