Kelly McCrimmon brushed off the noise around the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after they swept the Colorado Avalanche to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in nine seasons. The team’s 2-1 win at home on Tuesday clinched the Western Conference Final and sent Vegas back into the sport’s biggest series with the kind of force that has become familiar in a short franchise life.
McCrimmon, who spoke to NHL.com, said the club does not spend much time worrying about what people outside the organization think. “I think we largely ignore it, to be honest,” he said, adding later that Vegas is “committed to winning and treating our people well” and does not need to apologize for how it operates. That response landed in the middle of a familiar debate around the Golden Knights, who have been criticized for everything from favorable expansion rules to long-term injured reserve strategy and, at times, the way they handle players and coaches.
The criticism has followed Vegas almost since the franchise was built through the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. The Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final in their first season, won the title in 2023 and are now back again after another dominant playoff run. McCrimmon said the outside narrative has never matched what he sees inside the room. “And in terms of the ‘ruthlessness,’ we treat our players fantastic,” he said. “I don't think there's anyone in our locker room that would refer to us that way. It's all from outside the organization.”
He also acknowledged one instance where the organization got it wrong, saying it was “wrong about” the lack of postgame media availability after the Western Conference Second Round win over the Anaheim Ducks. That came after the club had fired Bruce Cassidy and replaced him with John Tortorella on March 29, with eight games left in the regular season. Even with that backdrop, the Golden Knights kept moving forward, and Colorado coach Jared Bednar summed up the series aftermath in three words: “We ran into a buzzsaw.”
What comes next is the only thing Vegas cannot control. The Golden Knights are headed back to the Stanley Cup Finals Schedule: Hurricanes take 2-1 series lead in overtime win, but their opponent in the championship round has yet to be confirmed. For McCrimmon, the bigger point is already settled: in a league that has questioned them for years, Vegas has turned another wave of criticism into another trip to the final.
