The inimitable Dennis Beyak has a saying which perfectly fits the situation in Vegas right now in terms of the expectations of the organization and its fans. The long-time voice of the Winnipeg Jets gets a mischievous twinkle in his eye whenever a clamor about one issue or another gets louder than a roar and calmly remarks: "It's the passion that pays us all."
The fact folks in Vegas are a tad chuffed right now due to the Golden Knights abrupt exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs is a good thing. It's a great thing, actually, because it means people care. It means Vegas is truly a hockey town. A place where there is heat. Where wins and losses matter.
Passion For Winning Still Aflame in VGK Organization
General Manager Kelly McCrimmon's moves are being questioned. So are head coach Pete DeBoer's decisions. Again, this is good. If social media the last few days had been absent of rancor where the Golden Knights are concerned, that would have been cause for worry.
The Golden Knights have been to the conference final in two of the last three seasons. Only one other team can boast this accomplishment. McCrimmon has most of his roster locked up for next season and beyond and he's got AAA prospects in the pipe. Vegas is going to be good next year and for a number of seasons after that as well. Will they win a Stanley Cup? Who knows? But this is how it's done. Teams don't load up for one swing of the bat. They try to get multiple swings in order to give themselves a number of opportunities to win a title.
"Over the three years, we think that this is our best team that we have. We thought we built a team that could win the Stanley Cup, and a lot of work goes into that. There are other teams that do the same thing, so when you get to the final four, its likely, if we are honest, in any given year, the teams in the final four, any one of those teams could probably be a Stanley Cup champion," said McCrimmon. "Unfortunately for us, this time around we aren't. We do wish we would have scored more, but as a manger you need to be cautious to not get caught up in the emotion of it. You know, we have a good roster. We have been to the Conference Final twice in three years. I think you need to be cautious to not overreact and start making a number of changes, because we are not far away. I think that is most likely the approach that we will adopt as we evaluate not only where we are today, but where we hope to go in the future."
DeBoer is an elite coach. He's taken two different teams to the final and has now been to four conference finals.
If McCrimmon can figure out how to keep both Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury in the fold and happy, he'll have the best goaltending tandem in hockey. Shea Theodore has entered the Norris Trophy conversation and Mark Stone is a superstar forward. Vegas has lots of elite pieces.
McCrimmon isn't one to sit still and hope for good things to come his way. He's aggressive and skilled with a strong hockey operations staff. Vegas will make moves.
"I think we are a real good organization in the NHL in any way that you want to measure it. We have a really good nucleus. We incorporated new players into our team this year. I believe a total of six players were newcomers to our team this year, either through Zach Whitecloud making the jump from the American League, or the five players who we traded for. We've got a real focus on development, that is part of the reason why we are bringing our American Hockey League team to Henderson. We did put some new people in our lineup with Whitecloud and Nic Roy. Nic Hauge played half a year, Cody Glass had a real good taste at the national league level as well. You can't sit still," said McCrimmon.
"There is a balance between having a real strong nucleus that gives you a chance to win, but there is also the importance of having enough churn that you give opportunities to new players. We are mindful of all of that. We are not an organization that is only focused on winning next year. We are trying to build a really strong organization that has good depth throughout and uses the strengths of our pro scouting staff and amateur scouting staff, which are really important parts of our organization. That is the objective. That is how we build our team for today. That is how we build our team for tomorrow."
Apathy, internally or externally, is the worst thing which can infect an organization. Passion, however, fuels a lot of things. The fire builds in the fanbase and then is used to give management the resources and impetus to keep striving for more.
A parade is the greatest thing an organization can experience at the end of a season. Anger is the next best thing. Anger demands improvement. It pushes for higher heights.
