Stanley Cup History in the Making

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For the first time since the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, the Stanley Cup will be lifted for the first time in their franchise. Since their existence in 1974, the Washington Capitals have never won a Stanley Cup. For the math, that’s 44 years without hoisting the greatest trophy in all of sports. It’s been 20 years since the Caps have won an Eastern Conference final, until now.

The opponent on the other hand only needed one year to advance to their respective conference final. The last time this has happened was in 1968 when the St Louis Blues went in their first three seasons of being in the National Hockey League. Sadly, the Blues lost all three of those cups and have never returned to the final.

The Vegas Golden Knights look to continue the opening success like the Blues except their going after something they never accomplished, Stanley Cup Champions. The team was announced by the NHL on June 22, 2016. In almost two years to the date, the unthinkable could happen.

Game 1 kicked off the Cup finals on Memorial Day with a bang as 10 goals were scored. It’s the first time in a home playoff game that 10 goals have been scored in eight seasons. Vegas alone scored three goals in the third period to result in a 6-4 victory at home.

The Golden Knights have won five straight and seven of their past eight. The winner of Game 1 has gone on to win the Cup Finals 78.2 percent of the time.

Vegas just knows how to break records even if it’s in the help of the Capitals. In Washington, the game did a 16.0 local rating resulting in the highest Capitals game ever shown in the Washington area. Vegas is known for going above and beyond as they exceeded the 16.0 with a 28.1 local rating in Vegas. It was also the highest local rating in the Vegas area. According to NBC, Game 1’s overnight rating of 3.72 was up by 7 percent than last year’s final between Pittsburgh and Nashville.

It’s no joke when they say this Vegas team is stacked in every way from their depth of forwards, the skills of defenders and the eyes of a goalie. This team is on a mission and they won’t stop until the Cup is theirs. The fan in me can’t see either outcome resulting in a bad way. We are literally witnessing history in the making. The better story would be Vegas because let’s be real, will something like this ever happen again?

My heart is for the Capitals and Alex Ovechkin, but it’s tough to rule out the Knights. Vegas wins this series in six games.