Vegas Golden Knights: Four players we are thankful for on Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today is the day to be thankful and we are certainly thankful for our Vegas Golden Knights.
While we will all be stuffing our faces with turkey and various other delights today, I thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on our beloved Vegas Golden Knights.
And, although it hasn’t exactly been a vintage start to the year, there is still a lot of hockey to be played and this team has the talent to be able to make a deep postseason run.
The Knights have a loaded top six and they boast a future Hall of Famer in Marc-Andre Fleury who has been playing at an elite level this season.
Shea Theodore and Nate Schmidt are starting to find their game on the blueline, and the Golden Knights will have some cap flexibility at the Trade Deadline to make another aggressive move in order to bolster this roster.
So, and following a big win over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday, everything is set up for a big few months for the Golden Knights.
But, given that today is Thanksgiving, we thought it would make sense to share the four Vegas Golden Knights players we are most thankful for this year…
1. Shea Theodore
Some things in life are bigger than sports and we were given a somber reminder of that earlier in the year when it was announced that Shea Theodore had faced the biggest battle of his life during the summer.
After failing a drug test during the IIHF World Championships, it was revealed that Theodore had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
It is the news that nobody wants and it was a horrifying moment for an athlete at the peak of his physical powers.
However, after undergoing surgery, Theodore made a full recovery and is back on the ice doing what he does best.
And one of the highlights of the year so far was Theodore walking out to take part in the ceremonial puck drop against the San Jose Sharks on Nov, 24, with his grandmother Kay Darlington, who is currently battling stage-four breast cancer.
That was an emotional moment.
So, today on Thanksgiving, we are incredibly thankful that Shea Theodore is fully recovered and healthy after overcoming cancer.
2. Marc-Andre Fleury
This is an obvious one, isn’t it.
To say that Marc-Andre Fleury has been playing at an elite level this year would be a severe understatement, and you wonder where the Golden Knights would be if it were not for their future Hall of Famer.
Fleury has been simply incredible and he’s already pulled off a plethora of superb stops, enough to fill a handful of highlight-reels.
I mean, who could forget THAT incredible save against the Toronto Maple Leafs where he absolutely robbed Nic Petan?!
Save of the year without a doubt.
There are other high-end stops we can point to as well but the point is that, even at 34-years-old, Fleury is still one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Through 19 starts Fleury has a record of 11-6-2 with a 2.54 Goals Against Average and a .919 Save Percentage.
Not bad at all.
Marc-Andre Fleury will go down as one of the best to have ever put on the pads in the NHL and we should all be thankful that he’s a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
I know I am.
3. William Karlsson
The franchise center has been quietly carving out one hell of a season so far and he’s once again been one of the main guys for the Vegas Golden Knights.
With eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points in 27 games, Karlsson is third on the team in points and he also leads the team in shorthanded points with four.
He also has a CF% of 52.0 and a 57.2 oZS%, while the forward has won 55.9 percent of his faceoffs.
Karlsson is currently averaging 19:08 minutes of ice time per game and, to go along with that, he has 14 blocked shots, 20 hits and 19 takeaways.
To put it simply, Karlsson has more than one string to his bow and, along with teammate Mark Stone, is one of the premier two-way forwards in the National Hockey League.
Karlsson also has to be one of the elite penalty killers in the game due to his work in the defensive zone, but also down to the fact that he’s good for at least one high-danger chance every time he’s on the ice to kill a power play.
We don’t know about you but we’re incredibly thankful to have William Karlsson under contract through 2026-27.
4. Max Pacioretty
Max Pacioretty has shown signs this year of becoming Captain Clutch, the player that so often delivered in the biggest moments for the Montreal Canadiens.
After recording 40 points (22 goals, 18 assists) for the Golden Knights last year, Pacioretty has already tallied nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 27 games this season, including nine points on the power play.
He’s arguably been the most consistent performer for Vegas so far in 2019-20, and he’s really led by example on the ice.
He plays top six minutes and is now a cornerstone of the power play, while the forward has come up big when needed.
Just look at what happened in the thrilling win over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday, Pacioretty had the game on his stick with just one second left on the board and the forward delivered the buzzer beater to take the game to overtime.
Next. Players we would have over on Thanksgiving. dark
Pacioretty was a huge reason why the Golden Knights won that game, and he’ll be huge both down the stretch and in the postseason.
On this Thanksgiving, we are incredibly thankful to have a leader and a pure sniper in Max Pacioretty on the team.