Whitecloud of Golden Knights never thought he'd become NHL player

LAS VEGAS --When Zach Whitecloud was growing up and playing hockey with his friends, he would dream about having a big moment in the Stanley Cup Final.

When asked what player he would pretend to be, he said, "Zach Whitecloud."

And that's exactly what he thought it was -- a dream, pretend, something that would never happen.

"I was never supposed to be here playing pro hockey, any of that stuff," the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman said during Stanley Cup Final Media Day on Friday. "I was never that player, I was never that kid. I dreamt of it, but it was never a realistic goal in my mind."

But there he was Saturday scoring the game-winning goal in the Golden Knights' 5-2 victory against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. His shot from the near the blue line got through traffic and past Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky under his glove at 6:59 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Teammate Mark Stone scored at 13:41 to make it 4-2, and Reilly Smith capped the win with an empty-net goal at 18:15.

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And though Vegas also got goals from original Golden Knights Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore, Whitecloud's goal was the biggest of the night.

"Well, the 3-2 goal made it tough," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said when asked when the game got away from his team. "When we only have two and they have three."

Not only was it somewhat surprising to see the game-winner come from a third-pair defenseman who had scored one goal in his previous 17 games this postseason, Whitecloud said it was a moment he never thought would happen growing up in the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. In fact, he's the first NHL player from that community.

"We have a lot of good hockey players from where I grew up in Brandon, Manitoba, and my community is 20 minutes west of there -- Sioux Valley. We never had hockey players in our community go on to play at higher levels," Whitecloud said Friday. "My dad played a little bit of junior hockey and stuff like that, but nothing higher than that.

"And, you know, he's always been my role model in terms of why I wanted to play hockey. Why I have this passion for the game that I do. You know, (Indigenous NHL player) Jordin Tootoo, he was one of the role models for sure. People that look like me, people that got to those levels."

But the 26-year-old didn't think he would ever get to the NHL. In fact, he said, he never thought about becoming a pro hockey player, instead playing the game simply for the love of it.

"I was never the player that was first pick for teams or who always was praised for being a good player. I was fine with it. That's a big part of why I am where I am today is because I genuinely played the game because I love it," Whitecloud said. "I wasn't playing it to try and get to the NHL to make a living and be this person. I was just there literally just playing with my buddies on the rink, having fun. If I made the Triple-A team or the travel team that would be great if I did, whatever. That was kind of my mindset and then through junior, through college, and all sorts of things and it kind of became more realistic, and it's been a cool road."

After playing three seasons with the Virden Oil Capitals of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Whitecloud moved on to Bemidji State University in Minnesota. In two NCAA seasons Whitecloud had 36 points (seven goals, 29 assists) in 77 games.

Undrafted, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Golden Knights on March 8, 2018. He made his NHL debut a month later, on April 5, going pointless in his only game that season. He played the 2018-19 season with Chicago of the American Hockey League, and had 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 22 games in the Calder Cup Playoffs, when the Wolves lost in the final to the Charlotte Checkers. The 15 points led all defensemen and were most by an AHL rookie since Alex Goligoski had 28 points with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2008.

Whitecloud played 35 games for Chicago the following season and was recalled by Vegas on Feb. 1. He's been an NHL defenseman ever since.

He has 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) In 186 regular-season games for Vegas, and 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 57 playoff games. And thanks to his goal in Game 1, he's three wins away from being a Stanley Cup champion.

Whitecloud hopes his story and the success he's found in the NHL can be an inspiration for other Indigenous kids who maybe feel like they don't have a chance to reach the NHL. In fact, he hopes kids who see him and Florida defenseman Brandon Montour, who is also Indigenous, will be inspired to chase whatever their dream is.

"It's a cool experience for I think, a lot of our youth in our communities to see that. Role models, whatever it is, for people from those communities to make it to this level and live out their dream," Whitecloud said, "and that stems from hard work, support, people that love and care about you and doing things to the best of your ability.

"It's about sending a message to a lot of those kids, right? That this is possible. Dreaming and going after your dreams are attainable, and I think that's the most important part for me is being able to get to this point but also being a role model in terms of seeing that this is possible with hard work, dedication. And that doesn't stem from just hockey. If you want to be a lawyer if you want to be a businessman, whatever you want to do, whatever your passion is, go and get it."