NHL Conference Finals, Euro Cup
And appreciating the Vegas Golden Knights
What’s better than playoff Hockey? NOTHING.
Islanders (+220) vs Lightning (-280)
Tampa is firing on all cylinders and look prime for a repeat. But… you just can not sleep on the Islanders. They’re pesky as hell, and Varlamov is quite possibly the second hottest goalie in the playoffs behind Vasilevsky. NYI beat the Penguins and Bruins as underdogs. They were down 2-1 in both series as well, but these strong island fucks just can’t be counted out. They were not the most talented team in either series, but they continue to keep playing harder and earning W’s. The Isles are a live dog in our eyes here. Let’s take a shot on em.
The Pick: Isles +220
Canadiens (+335) vs Knights (-435)
What a great run for the Habs. They haven’t trailed in something like 400+ minutes. Not to mention coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Leafs. Unfortunately for Montreal, the party is over. Sure Carey Price is playing out of his mind, and the defense has been suffocating…but Vegas is a different beast. Don’t fear the number here – lay it with the Knights.
The Pick: Knights -435
***See our Vegas write up for full appreciation of this team***
EURO CUP
Soccer… the Euro Cup is Soccer. Europe’s best 32 teams are about to square off for a month long tourney. This, if nothing else, is the perfect excuse to skip out of the office on a beautiful summer Tuesday at 3 pm for a beer and some action.
Not going to pretend we know anything about soccer, but let’s talk strategy. With an event like this, you absolutely have to have action. We suggest this type of structure:
- 2 favorites
- 2 middle of the pack teams
- 1 longshot
Then sprinkle a few fun bets like top goal scorer, team to win the group, etc. Do your own research before joining us on any of our plays.
Favorites:
Belgium +500 – They’ve got all the talent, but usually never put it together when it matters most. We are betting on that to change. Plus, from what we’ve heard they are in a relatively easy group.
Italy +800 – Some have said Italy are a mess this year, yet Vegas is showing them respect with this number. ANDIAMO!
Mid tier:
Netherlands +1200
Denmark +2800
Longshots:
Sweden +7000
Sounds like France is the consensus favorite here at +400, but we don’t typically go with the overall favorites in tournament play (unless it’s Koepka). Love England, but +400 is not appealing enough. We are probably going to regret not having a ticket on Germany +600 but fuck it!
Top Goal Scorer:
Lukaku +700
Benzema +1600
And now something a bit different than the typical picks in our newsletter - this teams 4 year history has been too remarkable not to highlight. This write up was done last week and posted on our Twitter, but this is an important read for the casual hockey fan. We wanted to take some time and Appreciate the Vegas Golden Knights. (6 min read)
With the NHL about to add its 32nd team, the Seattle Kraken, now is a good time to appreciate the unexpected success from this sports most recent expansion team: The Vegas Golden Knights.
Inception
Let's go back just a few years to 2017. Las Vegas's bid for the expansion beat out Quebec City, who moved to become the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. The reason was stated as being a concern of Canada’s dollar value and geographical location for the balance of league conferences.
What's an expansion draft?
First and foremost, let’s discuss how the expansion draft works. I’ll try to sum it up for you as best as I can. The rules changed a bit after 2000 when the league added the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets. To make it more competitive, each team was now only allowed to protect 1 goalie and 8 skaters. Only players with 2+ years of playing experience were eligible – so no rookies or young studs. All other players are fair game. Vegas selects 30 guys, 20 of which have to be on contract through 2017-2018. Here were the notable selections from their draft:
Cody Eakin
Jonathan Marchessault
Brayden McNabb
James Neal
William Karlsson
And of course, Marc-Andre Fleury
Now here's the kicker! Teams could offer concessions to Vegas in order for them to select an unprotected player of that teams liking. That means a team had other guys they wanted to keep outside of the 9 they could protect, and is basically choosing which player Vegas will select. Essentially, these were the guys the teams really did not want the most, and felt were the most expendable. So they said “Hey Vegas, we will give you all this if you agree to take X player, because we don’t want you taking any of our other guys”. Get it? This is where Vegas REALLY crushed it. I'm sure you're wondering which teams fucked up the most. See below:
The Florida Panthers traded Reilly Smith to ensure the Knights would select Marchessault.
The Anaheim Ducks traded Shea Theodore to ensure the Knights would select Clayton Stoner.
The Minnesota Wild traded Alex Tuch so Vegas would select Erik Haula.
The Penguins traded a 2nd round pick so that Vegas would take Fleury. (God damnit Matt Murray went to shit)
The Knights received a plethora of draft picks as well – including two first rounders. They selected Nicholas Suzuki 13th overall with the pick from Winnipeg, and Erik Brannstrom 15th overall with the pick from the Islanders. They held the 6th overall pick and took Cody Glass, in case you were wondering. These guys didn’t contribute much, but they played a role in future trades for key pieces. We'll get to that later.
Vegas went with Gerard Gallant as their head coach, who had some success with the Florida Panthers from 2014-2017 leading them to their second division title every. He was fired after a 11-10-1 start in 2017, and later fired by Vegas in 2020. Peter Debour is now the current HC.
So, that’s the blueprint to how you build a hockey team from scratch. In a way, Vegas got lucky that teams were willing to give up on certain guys who ended up performing very well. Was it a chip on their shoulder that gave em the extra bump? Who knows. But the fact that Tuch, Theodore and Smith were literally given to the Knights is incredible to look back on.
From long shot to liability
Rightfully so, the Knights opened up as a HUGE underdog to win the cup. Odds set by Vegas books were 200/1. The problem? This was Las Vegas’s first major sports team, so of course the locals were going to take a chance with it. I'm sure it's not easy for most to become a hockey fan overnight. So to help with that, why not make a small investment in them to win it all.
The Knights opened up the season on absolute fire, winning 8 of their first 9 games. They lost Fleury to injury after just the 4th game, but it didn’t phase them. Then they lose their second and third string goalies. Malcom Subban stepped up in net, but the team cooled off a bit and found themselves with a 15-9-1 record. Then December happened. Vegas went on an INSANE run. They got Fluery back and won 19 of their next 25 games. The Knights finished the year with 109 points and 1st place in their division.
Vegas Flu
The Knights posted a 29-10-2 home record. Gamblers began to catch on, as word spread that the opposing teams were enjoying themselves in Vegas the night before games. SHOCKER. Some teams were rumored to be playing blackjack till 7am, and being so drunk at restaurants they’d have to be carried to their hotel rooms. Funny enough, the way the schedule worked, teams would visit Vegas before playing the Arizona Coyotes. The Yotes would typically get their asses kicked after the Vegas trip once the opponents finally sobered up (Arizona went 16-24-1 at home that year).
Playoffs?!
Most gamblers (myself included) know that the playoffs are a new season. Everything changes. Vegas just overachieved by a mile, so everyone (again, myself included) expected them to come back down to earth in the postseason. Well...we couldn’t have been more wrong. The Knights swept the Kings in the first round. Next, they beat the Sharks 4-2. Then destroyed the Jets 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals. Vegas now had home ice going into the Stanley Cup Final facing the Washington Capitals. The Knights took game one, but unfortunately lost the next 4, as Ovi and the Caps couldn’t be stopped.
Key Contributors
Fluery ended the season with a 29-13-4 record and 2.25 goal allowed average. William Karlsson led the knights in goals with 43 goals which set a record for most goals scored by a player on an expansion team. This was also 3rd in the NHL behind Patrick Laine and Ovechkin. Remember, the Winnipeg Jets TRADED a 1st round pick, 2nd round pick and a player so that the Knights would draft this guy. Fucking incredible. From the expansion draft, the Knights STILL have these guys on the roster:
Fleury
Jonathan Marchessault
William Karlsson
Brayden McNabb
Alex Tuch
Shea Theodore
The Knights are in the playoffs yet again for the 4th straight season. They have not missed the postseason since their inception. Truly unbelievable. It must be mentioned that the Knights have made some big moves to maintain their current success, most notably acquiring their now team captain Mark Stone, and Max Pacioretty. The Knights got Max from the Canadiens in 2018 for Suzuki, Tatar and a 2nd round pick. They got Stone from the Senators for Brannstrom, Lindberg and 2020 2nd round pick. A few other key pickups were Ryan Reaves (traded from Pittsburgh) and Alex Pietrangelo (signed after contract fallout with Blues).
The Present
The Knights currently found themselves down 2-0 against the Avalanche in the second round of the playoffs, only to rip off four consecutive wins and advance to the Semifinal.
Vegas isn’t fading anytime soon. Mark Stone is only 29 years old, Karlsson is 27, and both Theodore and Tuch are 25. The only issue is Fluery getting up there in age now at 36. They will have to find a suitable goaltender to continue their postseason streak and eventually win the Cup. But regardless of what happens in the future, this team deserves respect from every hockey fan.