What a Decade the 2010s were for the Vegas Golden Knights. Although they weren’t around for all of it, they certainly dominated the latter few years.
It is fair to state that the Vegas Golden Knights were the talk of the sports world for the last chunk of the Decade after writing a story fit for Hollywood.
Giving Las Vegas an NHL franchise has proved to be one huge home run both on and off the ice, with the Vegas Golden Knights becoming an immediate contender.
They made a magical run to their Stanley Cup Final in their dream inaugural year, while they also avoided a sophomore slump by making it back to the postseason during their second season.
And the Golden Knights have also shown the rest of the league how to produce entertainment off the ice too.
From their bonkers but brilliant pregame shows, featuring fighting knights and visits from the Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil, to genius and incredible pregame opening shows on the jumbotron, the Golden Knights are living up to the reputation their home city is famous for.
Overall, it was a hell of a Decade for the Vegas Golden Knights, even if they were only around for the last few years of it.
However, the best is still to come.
And I have a funny feeling that the 2020s, or the roaring twenties, will be even kinder to the Golden Knights.
For starters, they are bang in the middle of their Stanley Cup contending window and they are built to win right now.
They are also built for sustained success and that should only continue given how aggressive this front office is when it comes to improving the team.
It would shock me if the Golden Knights didn’t win at least one Stanley Cup in the next five years, let alone within this Decade.
The front office are also ensuring they build through the draft and they have done a superb job when it comes to locking up the core of this team long-term.
That ensures that the very heartbeat of this team grows and keeps beating together, which should lay the foundations for sustained success.
And the future also looks incredibly bright off the ice too.
Hockey and Vegas has gone together like peanut butter and jelly, there is simply no other way to put it.
The Las Vegas residents have embraced both the sport and the team with open arms, leading to T-Mobile Arena being packed out pretty much every game.
There is a real appetite for hockey in Sin City, even when the Golden Knights aren’t involved as proven by the fact that Vegas ranks in the upper echelons of top markets when it came to TV ratings during last year’s Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues.
That tells you all you need to know about hockey in Las Vegas.
Back to the ice quickly and the Golden Knights have a high-end draft pick in Cody Glass, who has equipped himself well during his rookie season in the NHL and the center looks to have a high ceiling.
They have a plethora of high-end defensive prospects to construct their blueline around, and they are in safe hands with President of Hockey Operations George McPhee and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon.
So, as magical an ending to the last Decade was, prepare for even better throughout the 2020s for the Vegas Golden Knights.