Golden Knights disappointed but optimistic following Cup Final loss

LAS VEGAS --Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee couldn't have put it any better, adeptly describing the vacant feeling of losing in the Stanley Cup Final, coupled with the sense of accomplishment in their inaugural season.
McPhee was proud of his team, and rightly so. But he said the 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday left them running the gamut of emotions.

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Capitals series coverage]
"The Vegas Golden Knights have been a great story this year," McPhee said on Friday. "It certainly didn't end the way we had hoped or wanted. Sometimes a great book, a great movie, a great story doesn't have a great ending.
"But it doesn't take away from the plot or a great narrative or some interesting protagonist along the way, or antagonists. … It's still a great story and wish it had ended a little bit better. Individually, we all wanted to win the Cup. Collectively, we wanted to win the Cup as a team."
It wasn't quite a year ago [June 21, 2017] that the Golden Knights were selecting the majority of their team in the NHL Expansion Draft. They went 51-24-7 with 109 points, were Pacific Division champions, won three Stanley Cup Playoff series and were within three wins of a championship.
"It would have been great to deliver a championship to the city. We all know what the real story was this year," said McPhee, referring to the mass shooting on the Strip on Oct. 1. "It would have been great if we could have made things even better."
Coach Gerard Gallant was asked if this was the most fun he ever had in all his years in hockey.
"It is, up until last night," Gallant said. "We had an exceptional season. We had exceptional fun. You get that close to the prize and it really hurts. But you know what? It makes you a better person for it.
"You go through that experience, and hopefully when we get there again, sometime in the near future, hopefully we'll prepare better for it."
Gallant and McPhee won't be out of the spotlight for long. Gallant is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, given to the NHL's Coach of the Year, while McPhee is a finalist for the General Manager of the Year Award. The winners will be announced June 20, during the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Shortly thereafter, they will have some big decisions to make, beginning with forwards David Perron and James Neal, who will be unrestricted free agents July 1.

There are always changes of some sort. That's the nature of the business.
"The reality is, in the salary-cap world, you have to make some tough decisions, and this team, not everyone will be back," McPhee said. "We've all learned lessons over the years, examined what happens in the salary-cap world. You have to be smart about what you do and the contracts you hand out.
"There was a time when there was no salary cap and you could do whatever you wanted. You can't do that anymore. We'll do our best to keep this group together but there's always three or four changes."
McPhee said it will be important to stay close to the script that made them so successful.
"We'd like to keep this identity," he said. "It's a very tight-knit group. It's a hard-working team. They really played well for Gerard. He's coached them very, very well. That what we want to keep. What I love about our room is there's no hierarchy. There's no entitlement. It's just a bunch of guys that show up and work their tails off and get along and represent this organization and this city very well."
McPhee had plenty to say about the Capitals, his former organization. He was the general manger in Washington for 17 years until he was fired following the 2013-14 season, and in his time there selected Alex Ovechkin with the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft.
"Washington has been, and is, really a good team," McPhee said. "They've been a good team for a long time and had a lot of heartache. They slayed those dragons this year. They beat [the] Pittsburgh [Penguins] and were down in other series and they were very resilient.
"And they were better than we were. They beat us four times. They deserved to win. For those players, for a guy like Alex … he's absorbed all the heat, all the criticism in that market for over a decade.
"Whenever the team didn't prevail, it seemed to be all on him when all he has ever done is played great. … Nothing has really changed so he has made it easier for a lot of players on that team because they don't take the heat and he has. And he's finally won and good for him. He deserved it."