Several Golden Knights players took their turns pushing back against the recent Rotowire poll that named them the most-hated franchise in the NHL.
Even general manager Kelly McCrimmon had a bit of a mic-drop moment during a rant in which he defended the way the Knights have operated in the decade since their inception at his season-ending news conference.
They all made great points.
But it could have been so much easier.
There’s no reason to push back on this narrative, aside from the obvious of the preposterousness of the methodology of the poll.
This nonsense should be a badge of honor, not a point of contention. Hang a freaking banner from the rafters of T-Mobile Arena.
Because as McCrimmon so directly alleged, there is one core word at the center of all of this.
“I think people have a hard time explaining why we win as much as we do,” he said. “For me it’s jealousy and people are uncomfortable admitting that we’ve done a hell of a job.”
Yup.
Winning brings envy
Nobody wastes time hating losers. It’s especially difficult to embrace a winning team that has never had to deal with any lean periods in the history of the franchise.
The consistent winning isn’t the only reason the Knights have drawn the ire of fans around the league, but it’s the main one.
McCrimmon acknowledged some of them.
They took advantage of favorable expansion rules. So why didn’t Seattle?
The Knights took advantage of long-term injured reserve in a way that made the league change the rules.
“Yeah, because we had Mark Stone get back surgery in February just for fun,” McCrimmon quipped.
He forgot a few.
They operate in a cutthroat manner that has soured even some die-hard fans. Yup.
They wouldn’t let a coach they had fired speak to other teams, especially in their own division, because he was technically still under contract. Uh-huh.
They take advantage of the state’s favorable tax situation as a recruiting tool. You’re darn right.
They were the organization that actually went out on a public relations limb to sign goaltender Carter Hart upon his reinstatement to the league after a notorious sexual assault case in which he was found not guilty. And he led them to the Stanley Cup Final.
The list goes on and on.
And guess what?
All of those things have helped make the Knights a consistent winner. And while fans can whine and complain all they want, success begets success.
‘Haters gonna hate’
Jack Eichel dismissed the poll as coming from a “random bunch of people” and said he’s never spoken to a player around the league that put the Knights on their no-trade lists.
Exactly.
McCrimmon doubled down on the sentiment.
“This organization treats the players fantastic,” he said. “The organization gives our players every resource to be the best that they can as a person and a player. And it’s a great city to live in. It’s easy out there with the traffic, lifestyle and all those things. But all those players will tell you the number one thing is they have a chance to win. When you hear that a person from another organization is interested in coming to Vegas, it’s because we win. That’s why they want to come to Vegas.
“First and foremost, people come here because we try to win and they like being on teams that try to win. There are players in the NHL that are on teams that I don’t think the players are confident the steam will win. That’s how I see it and we’re not going to apologize for that.”
It was as well said as it was unnecessary.
Because as another unbelievably successful entity who has drawn their fair share of hate in the sports world once said, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate hate.”
Let them do it.
The Knights have already shaken it off and moved on to trying to figure out how put together a roster for next year that has a chance to compete.
Chances are, they will find a way to do it.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
