Golden Knights Cup Final Notebook: May 27

While no player on the Vegas Golden Knights wears a "C" on their sweater, there's no shortage of leadership on the team.
The team-wide take on leadership has been a key factor for the improbable Stanley Cup Final run and each player on the Golden Knights has embraced the atmosphere and camaraderie.
Part of what's helped make the team so tightknit was the fact they all came into the team at the same time and in very similar fashion, through some form of transaction surrounding the NHL Expansion Draft last June.

"There's just no cliques," said forward Jonathan Marchessault at Stanley Cup Final Media Day. "We all came in in the same situation and with chips on our shoulders. It clicked in right away and everyone was respectful and happy to be a part of it.
"We just wanted to make the most of it and we did."
Even for the players who joined the team during the regular season, they were immediately welcomed and took note of the all-around leadership style of the locker room.
"Our locker room is really special," said forward Tomas Tatar, who joined Vegas via a trade in February. "If you don't have a good group of guys, it's hard to win. I've never had anything like this. Everyone who feels like they can say something and help the team, they're speaking up.
"Everyone can chip in and that's why we're so close."
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is one the primary leaders on the team and with his extensive playoff experience and three Stanley Cup titles, he might be the most visible leader they have in and outside of the team's locker room.
"I think it's been enormous for the team," said Vegas general manager George McPhee. "He is one of the finest people you'll meet in this game. He's brought tremendous leadership to our group, brought experience, needless to say, not only as a real good starter but as a guy who's had success in the playoffs.
"But the way he carries himself is really, really impressive. It's not contrived. It's who he is. It's just been a nice thing to have with this group that we have because it's a real good group of players."
A TALE OF TWO TEAMS
Perhaps no two teams in a championship have had one person so influential to both of them like the Capitals and Golden Knights.
Golden Knights general manager George McPhee was instrumental in building both of these Stanley Cup Final teams, first as the general manager of Washington from 1997 to 2014 and now with Vegas.
He took Washington to its last Stanley Cup Final in 1998.
"It's hard to compare the two," he said. "This has been - working with Turk and this group has been real businesslike. It's just what do we do to win the next game and it seems so simple, but that's the way it's been all year.
"That run, it was a good team. It had a good season. In some ways it was similar to this team. We had a lot of injuries this year, second or third in the league in man games lost, and that team did too. When we got healthy, it was a pretty good team. And when this team is healthy, it's a pretty good team. It gets good goaltending and they play a good team game, and I guess both runs were unexpected."
Now to be back in the Stanley Cup Final, he can watch Monday's game and look back at the path that got him here.
"It's funny how life goes," he said. "Two years ago I was walking around Ann Arbor kicking stones and couldn't get a job, you know. I'm certainly proud of the Washington team and the players.
"But certainly, really happy for them and really proud of this team we have in Vegas."
NO TOUCHING
The Golden Knights only have one player who has won the Stanley Cup: Marc-Andre Fleury.
It was in the T-Mobile Arena main lobby during Media Day and it was drawing attention from the players.
Forward Alex Tuch said, as he stared at the trophy, that he's avoided touching it, even when he was eight years old and took a picture standing next to it.
Defenseman Shea Theodore said it'd be similar to when he won the World Juniors with Team Canada in 2015, but "magnified like crazy."
Many of the Golden Knights will be in their best position to win the Stanley Cup and know many players never get the opportunity to play for the legendary trophy.
"That's why you play the sport," Marchessault said. "The passion since you're young is for the chance to maybe win it. Definitely we're in a good spot and we should take advantage of it."