WrestleMania and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are Heading to Vegas

It really seems like yesterday that the Vegas Golden Knights debuted in the NHL, but it was actually eight years ago that Sin City received this franchise. This was quite a wild night in the NHL. Five teams--five teams---had a chance to clinch spots in this year's playoffs. Had all of them clinched, the playoff field would have been half full: eight teams in, eight spots remaining. However, the Montreal Canadiens winning against the Florida Panthers ended up killing four of the five teams' clinching scenarios, but there was still Vegas.

When the St. Louis Blues went to overtime (and went on to win their tenth straight game), that killed one scenario for Vegas. Three remained, but Vegas was actually losing at home. But elsewhere, the Calgary Flames were also losing, and when that score went final, that ended up putting Vegas in. Vegas would go on to lose in regulation to the Edmonton Oilers. So on a day where five teams could have clinched playoff spots, only one team gets in, and they back in. Wow!

We know full well about Vegas' history. Year One was their crazy run to the Stanley Cup Final. Year Two was a first round exit caused by a massive choke job centered on a Game Seven collapse caused by a dirty hit that was called for a major penalty. Years Three and Four saw them lose in the Final Four to teams with Corey Perry on them. Year Five was the ultimate insult: they missed the playoffs. Year Six was their ultimate goal: Stanley Cup Champions. But last year, Year Seven, was the LTIR scheme that saw them out in Round 1.

Two things stand out to me about this year's Golden Knights season. For one, they let go of Jonathan Marchessault during the offseason. Not onlye was Marchessault one of the original Golden Knights, he was the Conn Smythe winner during Vegas' successful Stanley Cup run in 2023. A second thing that stands out to me is Jack Eichel's play this year. 27 goals, 66 assists, for a grand total of 93 points. He is running away with the points lead on this team. Mark Stone is at a distant second with 66 points (19 G/47 A), which proves what can happen when a player doesn't participate in skirting the system. In net, Adin Hill's been tearing it up; going 29-10-5 with a 2.47 GAA, a .908 SV%, and four shutouts.

The Golden Knights are not that far off from their Stanley Cup victory. A lot of us may hate the Golden Knights, and rightfully so, but the history's there. Four times, they were one of the final four teams remaining, and two of those times resulted in Cup Final appearances, with the championship coming two years ago. Despite this, they are coming off a first round exit, and a team like that wants to rectify something like that very soon.

Vegas still leads the Pacific Division, but that lead shrank by two points with the Los Angeles Kings' victory. Despite this, Vegas looks like a threat to win the Pacific, but they'll finish as the lower of the two division winners in the West. Amazing, isn't it? The Stanley Cup Playoffs start on April 19. You know what else takes place on April 19? Night 1 of WrestleMania. And Vegas will now feature both. That means that with the recent habit of having four Game Ones on the 19th and the other four on the 20th, chances are Vegas will have the playoffs and one of the WrestleMania nights rocking on the same night. Very epic!