Golden Knights deserve to be in Stanley Cup Final in inaugural season

They haven't suffered enough? Really?
There is this notion that the Vegas Golden Knights don't deserve to play in the Stanley Cup Final, let alone win the Cup, because they're in their inaugural season and haven't paid their dues.

It's understandable. Some cities and teams have been suffering for decades, and this upstart waltzes into the NHL and makes winning look easy. It's like Vegas cut in line. Frustrating. Infuriating, even.
But consider this:
There is suffering with a team and suffering without one. Las Vegas never had a major league sports team before the Golden Knights, never had someone to cheer or jeer, never had a hat or T-shirt or jersey to wear. 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
The overwhelming reception of the Golden Knights is due to their success and response to the Oct. 1 shooting on the Strip, but also because of how badly Las Vegas was craving a team -- something, anything -- to support.
The Golden Knights benefitted from three things: NHL Expansion Draft rules more favorable than in the past, entering the NHL alone and the NHL Salary Cap. They were expected to be good for an expansion team, but not this good, not even close. No one thought they would make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, let alone the Stanley Cup Final.

And while they have not suffered as a team, they have suffered individually.
"I think it's the same story for each and every guy," forward James Neal said. "It makes it that much better."
General manager George McPhee has suffered. He played parts of six seasons in the NHL and never won the Cup. He has worked in NHL front offices since 1992 without winning it. He hasn't been to the Final since 1998, at the end of his first season as GM of the Washington Capitals. Despite lots of regular-season success, the Capitals never reached the conference final after that. He was fired April 26, 2014, and wasn't sure he would get another shot.
Coach Gerard Gallant has suffered. He played 10 seasons in the NHL, scoring 30 goals four times, and never won the Cup. He has been the coach or an assistant with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers without winning the Cup. He has been fired as coach twice, the last time by the Panthers on Nov. 27, 2016, months after he was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.
Defenseman Deryk Engelland has suffered. He played 148 games in the ECHL and 338 games in the AHL -- from Lowell to Las Vegas to Hershey to South Carolina to Reading to Wilkes-Barre -- before establishing himself in the NHL. He has played eight full seasons in the NHL and hasn't won the Cup. Can you imagine how it felt for him, at 36, to carry off the Clarence Campbell Bowl after the Golden Knights eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final on Sunday?
Neal has suffered. He has played 10 seasons in the NHL, scoring between 21 and 40 goals each time, and never won the Cup. He played through a wrist injury and came within two games of it last year with the Nashville Predators, only to be eliminated on home ice at Bridgestone Arena in Game 6 of the Final by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Forward Jonathan Marchessault has suffered. Undrafted, 5 feet 9, he bounced from the New York Rangers (zero NHL games) to the Blue Jackets (two NHL games) to the Tampa Bay Lightning (47 NHL games) to the Florida Panthers (75 NHL games). Even though he scored 30 goals for the Panthers last season, he was exposed in the NHL Expansion Draft.

Keep going down the list, from forward David Perron (five NHL teams, 775 NHL games in the regular season and playoffs, no Cup rings) to defenseman Nate Schmidt (a healthy scratch with the Capitals down the stretch last season). Each player on the roster was claimed in the expansion draft, claimed on waivers or acquired in a trade, which means, at minimum, each player's previous team didn't value him as highly as others.
Even goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has suffered. Yes, he won three Cup rings with the Penguins. But he spent the majority of the 2016 Cup run on the bench behind Matt Murray, and after carrying the Penguins through the first two rounds while Murray was injured last year, he was replaced by Murray in the Eastern Conference Final. He had to watch from the bench as the Penguins won the Cup with Murray, again, and had to leave his beloved city and teammates.
"I think everybody on this team has something to prove," forward Ryan Reaves said. "We call ourselves the Golden Misfits for a reason, and I think we're doing a good job of proving everybody wrong."