You don’t get over it in a day. Or a week. Or a month. Or maybe ever.
But the motivation for losing in a Stanley Cup Final can also be robust in how players deal with not accomplishing their ultimate goal. It’s what those on the Vegas Golden Knights are experiencing right now.
How to own it and move on.
The Knights fell to Carolina in six games in the Cup final and are in the early midst of handling the disappointment that comes with such a result.
It’s a tough thing to swallow. Getting so close. Two wins from being crowned champions. Understanding the significance of it all.
Which begs the question for a player who was part of a 2023 title team and this current one.
Who has experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows.
Which one offers more juice for returning to such a place?
“Not winning,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “It’s one of the worst feelings ever. It’s so hard when you know you have a good team that could have won it all. It stings. It’s going to sting for a while.
“A lot of disappointment. Eighty-two games, three grueling rounds (of playoffs) and then the finals. Winning it is the hardest thing. But there’s a lot of fuel at the same time. We know we have a good team. We knew it before but now we really know it. You want to get back, and we will.”
One standard
This much is true: Internally, it will be expected.
It’s one of the more impressive and at the same time challenging things about this organization. There is only one acceptable standard, and that’s to always win at the highest level.
It is a mantra preached from ownership to management to coaches to players.
And the Knights have every opportunity to do so each season.
There isn’t much they won’t do to make the team better. Few are the players across the NHL who wouldn’t want to play for Vegas. Who wouldn’t want to live here. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that room.
“Everybody wants to win,” goalie Carter Hart said. “Everybody is hungry to win. It’s contagious. That’s why so many players want to play here. They want to win now. It’s a lot of fun to be part of.”
And extremely tough for those involved when it doesn’t happen.
Mark Stone is the team captain who said you can put the emotions of it all in two boxes.
In one, you can be extremely disappointed, heartbroken even, when you have an opportunity to accomplish all your goals and fall short. That they may never get over this. It’s just how, he said, players are.
In the other, you can be proud of how such a roller-coaster of a season played out. That when there was no guarantee you would make the playoffs with eight regular-season games reamining and you instead end up winning the Pacific Division and Western Conference, it says a lot about the group.
“One team wins it every year, so we were unfortunately the first loser, I guess you could say,” Stone said. “But winning in the playoffs is hard. We were able to win three playoff series. I’m disappointed we weren’t able to get it done.
“In life, there are no guarantees you’re going to get back to where you want to be. But if you keep putting yourselves in these situations, it helps you get back. You just don’t want to have this feeling again.”
Already, there will be a new face leading such a charge to return.
Look in mirror
Players will arrive at training camp in September with a new coach, as it was announced on Tuesday that John Tortorella would not be returning in such capacity.
Whoever is to fill the role will undoubtedly understand what is expected. How everything is built around this desired standard of excellence. How coming so close but not getting it done isn’t good enough for anyone involved.
Especially those who work the hardest.
“Obviously, a lot of thoughts,” defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. “We’ve had a couple days to reflect and think. It sucks. But at the same time, you look yourself in the mirror and find a way to be better the next time.”
And use the juice of losing to make sure there is one.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
