Vegas Golden Knights: Three talking points from McCrimmon’s briefing
3. Vegas victims of their own success
Vegas General Manager Kelly McCrimmon made sure to stress that today’s bombshell was in the best interests of the organization.
That is important because I think it sums up the fact that the Vegas Golden Knights have become a victim of their own success.
After all, they are a third-year expansion team but they have been set up to win from day one and this move is a reflection of that.
They are still in play to win the Pacific Division and they boast an expensive core of players that have been brought here to win.
As a result, McCrimmon felt he couldn’t wait for this team to eventually work things out under Gerard Gallant, thus pulling the trigger on a move that stunned the hockey world.
It was such a shocking decision given that a lot of the Golden Knights’ under-the-hood numbers rank high in the NHL, which suggests that this team was on the cusp of figuring it out.
However, sports is a business and time waits for no man so the front office did what they are paid to do and that is make tough, cut-throat decisions.
Next. An open letter to Gerard Gallant. dark
They certainly did that today and the firing of Gerard Gallant, who enjoyed unprecedented success with this franchise, proves that winning early sometimes comes with a hefty price.
Unfortunately, a good coach and an even better man was the one to pay that price today.