Vegas Golden Knights win Stanley Cup after being in the league for only six years

The Vegas Golden Knights claimed their first Stanley Cup on June 13 after defeating the Florida Panthers in game five of the NHL finals. 

The team – which is only six years old – is now tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for the quickest Stanley Cup win in NHL history. 

The Golden Knights began their journey to the top when they were introduced to the league in 2017 . The team played their first game – and won their first game – on Oct. 6 against the Dallas Stars. 

Four days later, the Golden Knights hosted their first home game against the Arizona Coyotes, and they won that game too. 

Vegas then set an NHL record for an expansion team with their 3-0 unbeaten streak. They later set the expansion team record for wins in an opening season – winning 34 of their 50 games. 

The team continued to improve at an impressive rate, making the playoffs their first season. The Golden Knights took on the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs, and swept them in four games. 

Vegas then defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games, becoming the third team in NHL history to win more than one playoff series in their opening season. 

The Golden Knights carried this momentum into the Western Conference Finals, where they defeated the Winnipeg Jets in five games and became the third NHL team to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first series. 

However, Vegas ultimately fell to the Washington Capitals in five games.

This year, the Vegas Golden Knights found themselves in the Stanley Cup Finals again, but this time they left with the trophy. 

Prior to this season, Vegas fired their head coach and replaced him with Bruce Cassidy, former Boston Bruins head coach. 

They also lost a few of their best players, between multiple leaving, being traded or getting injured. 

However, the Golden Knights made up for these changes by trading for Adin Hill, their goalie that helped them win the Stanley Cup. 

Vegas kicked off the 2022-23 season leading their division with a 17-6-1 record at the end of November. The team then fell into a slump, winning only one out of eight games in February. 

The Golden Knights were able to pick themselves up, however, wrapping up the final three months of the season 22-4-5. 

On March 30, Vegas clinched a playoff berth, and two weeks later they secured the first seed in the Western Conference. 

In the first round of the playoffs, the Golden Knights faced off against the Winnipeg Jets. After losing 5-1 in the first game of the series, it was looking grim for the Golden Knights. However, the team won the next four straight games to win the series in five games. 

The Golden Knights advanced to the second round where they took on the Edmonton Oilers, who they defeated in six games.

In the Western Conference Finals, Vegas took on the Dallas Stars. The Golden Knights got off to a great start, leading the series 3-0. However, the Stars won the next two games, forcing the series to a game six.

In game six, Vegas blew out Dallas 6-0 to win their second Western Conference championship and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in franchise history. 

In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Golden Knights faced off against the Florida Panthers. Vegas won the first two games of the series to lead 2-0, but the Panthers found a way to make themselves competitive in game three and brought the series to 2-1. 

Despite their effort, though, the Golden Knights were unstoppable. They won game four 3-2 and then destroyed the Panthers in Vegas in a blowout win of 9-3. 

With that, the Vegas Golden Knights had won their first Stanley Cup – and did it only six years after joining the league. 

As for their last-minute trade, Adin Hill ended up being an absolute steal for the Golden Knights. Hill had a save percentage of 0.915 this season – saving about 91.5% of the shots taken on him. 

While Hill has only been in Vegas for a year, he's surely made his mark as a Golden Knight. 

Compared to other professional sports teams, the Vegas Golden Knights seemed to figure out how to be competitive at an accelerated rate. 

More impressively, though, despite facing countless difficulties before the start of the season, they found a way to overcome adversity and end up victorious. 

The story of the Vegas Golden Knights – making a Stanley Cup Finals their first year as a franchise and then winning it six years later – is truly inspirational. It'll be exciting to see what the team can accomplish in the future.