Never in the history of modern major league professional sports has a team captured the world’s imagination like the Vegas Golden Knights did in 2017-18.
The NHL expansion team, self-nicknamed the “Golden Misfits,” set records for wins, points, won their division and conference and made it to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season. It was a group of players that was systematically put together, quickly bonded and were expertly coached.
They also served an important role for Las Vegas after the shooting tragedy of October 1, 2017 when 58 concert-goers were murdered by a crazed gunman. They helped a community heal and provided a source of escape, and, eventually, a source of love for millions.
“Vegas Born” captures the Knights story from its embryonic stages all the way through the team’s amazing Stanley Cup run. The story is not just on the ice however. The team’s successful marketing run made it the envy of many pro sports teams, mixing in over-the-top Vegas sensibilities with traditional ideas to provide a first-class entertainment experience for those who visited T-Mobile Arena on game nights.
They were the first major league pro sports team in the city and the Golden Knights set the bar high for other Las Vegas-based sports teams when it came to marketing their product.
Of course, the product on the ice had a lot to do with it. Whether it was three-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury performing heroically or young centers William Karlsson and Erik Haula having career seasons or veterans Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, James Neal, Deryk Engelland and David Perron coming through with big, or in some cases, their best-ever years, the Golden Knights were a team which exceeded beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.
