The Vegas Golden Knights WIN The Stanley Cup

The Vegas Golden Knights WIN the Stanley Cup!!!! Owner Bill Foley predicted the playoffs in three (seasons), winning the Stanley Cup in six (seasons). Well, he was right! Only the VGK went to the playoffs in the first season and ended up in the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course they lost to the Washington Capitals that year.

However, Foley was right in predicting the our Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup in six! Beating the Florida Panthers in Game 5, 9 to 3 , the team retuned to the finals only to win it all in six seasons in the National Hockey League.

Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, William Carrier, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb are the only ones left from the original franchise lineup that took this city by storm. Made the unthinkable happen. Converted a city in the desert to a hockey mecca for thousands!

Although the initial announcement of the name, the uniforms and colors received mild reviews from future fans. As The Mike & Carla Morning Show predicted, and everyone knows, winning cures everything. With that said, it did! The VGK won, over and over again...converting fans by the thousands with each win season after season.

Going to the finals in season one was a miracle in itself, but winning the Stanley Cup in six is truly amazing! In fact, record setting! It was the Philadelphia Flyers, as an expansion team in 1967-68, who won their first Cup after only seven seasons in the league! Making the VGK even that much more of an amazing accomplishment.

Not only have they won the cup, but when it counted, this organization brought this city together when we needed it the most. After the tragedy of One October, this team hoisted this town on their back and didn't let us down!

And Tuesday night, they showed what they were made of, what this city is made of and now we celebrate! Congratulation Vegas Golden Knights...STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

And for the second time in their history, the Vegas Golden Knights have a chance to win it all. The last time the Stanley Cup was this close was the Knights' inaugural season in 2018. Where they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games. So the VGK has already surpassed their own record for how close they are to the trophy. Not that they, or anyone in Vegas, is okay with stopping there.

The Vegas Golden Knights were the third expansion team to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals when they beat the Winnepeg Jets in 2018. And in the same season they broke the record for the most postseason games won by an expansion team. Fun fact: the team that held that record prior was...any guesses? The Florida Panthers. Small world, isn't it?

Well, bragging rights, of course. They also get a cash bonus, usually around a couple hundred grand. And the gorgeous championship ring. But the cooler things include their name engraved on the cup. Which is a big deal because unlike other professional sports, hockey doesn't make a new cup every year. The Stanley Cup is an artifact. And there are names engraved from past winners. So players can have their name alongside some of their childhood hockey heroes. That's pretty darn cool.

Every player on the winning team gets to spend 24 hours with the Stanley Cup wherever they choose. A lot of times players will take it to their hometown and let everyone who encouraged them on their journey to share in their victory. I'm not crying, you're crying.

So that's what players get for winning the famous cup. But the perks don't stop there. Let's talk about how the Vegas Golden Knights winning tonight would make the whole city of Las Vegas a winner too. Wendy Rush

A recent study done at Harvard and Case Western University showed the potential for 13% growth in the number of bars and restaurants surrounding the stadium of a winning team. And with more businesses comes more jobs for Las Vegas locals.

If you lived in Las Vegas in 2017, you know the impact the Vegas Golden Knights' inaugural season had on the community. After the traumatic events at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on October 1 of that year, the city was deeply shaken. Being able to rally together behind a winning hockey team was truly a form of therapy to many who felt alone and afraid.

Beyond just bragging rights for winning the Stanley Cup, Las Vegas would have something else to show the world in terms of what we're capable of. Those of us who live in Vegas know we have a lot to offer. From community and family-friendly events to outdoor activities. But for all of those people who still think we're just good for gambling and strip clubs, we'd have a pretty compelling piece of contradiction.

Increased tourism is one major benefit of the VGK winning the Stanley Cup. New visitors have been coming for the playoff games. And more will come to next year's games if the VGK is the reigning champion. That means more money spent in Las Vegas.

Remember how we said before that some hockey players choose to take the Stanley Cup home to show to those who helped inspire them? Or how they'd get their names next to their hockey hero on the cup itself? Well, there are little hockey kiddos all over Vegas who would get to say that about their hometown. And that's pretty cool.