Why you should hate the Vegas Golden Knights

The Edmonton Oilers are getting set to take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the NHL Playoffs and that means it’s time for your ol’ pal Baggedmilk to hit you up with some inspiration to level up your hatred. And since this is the first time the Oilers and Golden Knights have ever met in the post-season, there’s no better time than now to air out some grievances to help build this rivalry.

Since coming into the league back in 2017, the Golden Knights have been having way too much fun. In only six years, they’ve already won the division three times after making it to the Stanley Cup finals in their inaugural season, and if that’s not enough of a reason for a good dose of hardship then I don’t know what is. Yeah, you could say that they missed the playoffs in 2021-22, but a one-year miss is barely a speed bump. Not to mention, Golden Knights fans have grown a sense of entitlement, failing to realize that the league put them in a great position to succeed right from the get-go. If I can use a baseball analogy for a minute here, it’s almost like the Golden Knights were born on third base, ya know?

Even though we all know that professional sports can be a cruel mistress at the best of times, the way the Golden Knights treat their players is shocking to me. Whether it’s Marc-Andre Fleury getting traded for no return only months after winning the Vezina Trophy, trading Dadanov to a team that was on his no-trade list, or shipping out Max Pacioretty for future considerations, I honestly don’t know why anyone would want to play for that franchise. Obviously, living in Vegas would be cool to a point, but to be treated like cattle and shipped out for nothing at all has to be the kind of treatment that spreads amongst the players. I mean, why would anyone sign a long-term contract in Vegas without a NMC since you’re more or less guaranteed to be shipped out?

Listen, I know the Golden Knights didn’t do anything wrong by sitting Mark Stone out down the stretch even though he was clearly ready to play, but it is one of those annoying cap loopholes that the NHL really needs to figure out. I mean, the guy spent most of the year on the LTIR with a back injury but ended up being healthy just in time for Game 1 against the Jets? Give me a break. Frankly, the league needs to amend whatever rule allows teams to circumvent the cap this way or require players to suit up before the regular season finishes to qualify for the playoffs because this whole song and dance is getting ridiculous.

Just like the L.A. Kings before them, the Vegas Golden Knights somehow thought that having these horrid chrome buckets was going to be a good idea, but I’m here to tell you that they look awful. Maybe I’m a traditionalist or just a crusty old man at this point, but I would legitimately be embarrassed to be wearing a helmet that looks like someone cut C-3P0’s head off. If I can confess something to all of you here and now it would be that I actually kinda like the Vegas uniforms, but those gold helmets could legitimately be enough of a reason to fold the franchise.

Seeing as our old friend, Laurent Brossoit, will be playing in net for Vegas in this series, I can think of anything that I’d like to happen more than having our boys bury him for old-time’s sake. If you remember, LB joined the Oilers’ organization in 2013 in a trade with the Flames and left in 2018 in free agency after signing with the Jets, landing him in one of the most forgettable eras of Oilers hockey. Now our enemy on a much less sexy team, Brossoit stands between us and the Western Conference Finals. Even though I will always wish him well for spending five years with us, the last thing I want is for him to have too much success. Call me selfish or whatever you’d like, I want nothing more than to give Brossoit a much more difficult series than he got against the Jets. He made it through one revenge tour, and I’ll be damned if he gets through another.

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