Twins/Vikings/Wild/Wolves Championship appearance drought tracker

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Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
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I loved the fan with the "We've waited 6 long years for this!" sign.

Congrats. With all my annual trips to Vegas, 4 games total at T-Mobile, staying at Red Rock across from their practice facility and acquiring nearly as much Golden Knights gear as Wild, they are my "2nd favorite team".

I also liked how they let their regular national anthem guy do the honors instead of getting a big star. That guy has some pipes.
 

Ope3 said:
I loved the fan with the "We've waited 6 long years for this!" sign.

Congrats. With all my annual trips to Vegas, 4 games total at T-Mobile, staying at Red Rock across from their practice facility and acquiring nearly as much Golden Knights gear as Wild, they are my "2nd favorite team".

I also liked how they let their regular national anthem guy do the honors instead of getting a big star. That guy has some pipes.
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Golden Pipes (Carnell Johnson) is the man. He's been doing the anthem since the first season too.

You know your business, clearly! Staying over there, away from the strip, all the creature comforts of Summerlin and City National Arena being right there. RR Station is a beautiful property, some great golf over there (Bears Best, among others), getting off-strip is definitely the way to go. Well done, Captain!

A little tiresome hearing of Panthers' injuries (it's June, everyone is banged up), this Vegas team was deep, like crazy deep. Just not really a hole on the entire lineup (they hammered the Panthers in 5 games and Eichel didn't score a goal; crazy).
 

Slim Tubby said:
If you're not on the news tomorrow as part of a group flipping over a police car, you're irrelevant to me as a fan.
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It's something to aspire to, no doubt. Haven't looked at much for news yet this morning, hope not much like that happened.
 


Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
Golden Pipes (Carnell Johnson) is the man. He's been doing the anthem since the first season too.

You know your business, clearly! Staying over there, away from the strip, all the creature comforts of Summerlin and City National Arena being right there. RR Station is a beautiful property, some great golf over there (Bears Best, among others), getting off-strip is definitely the way to go. Well done, Captain!

A little tiresome hearing of Panthers' injuries (it's June, everyone is banged up), this Vegas team was deep, like crazy deep. Just not really a hole on the entire lineup (they hammered the Panthers in 5 games and Eichel didn't score a goal; crazy).
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Personally, if I never stay on the Strip again, I'm good. Fun to visit for an evening, but staying there 24/7, no need anymore. RR, South Point, the M have all been more to my liking. Hope to check out Durango when that's up and running.

Angel Park has been our go to course for quite a while. Great shape, playable, and the staff treats us well, but we also try to work in a round or two at others. Big fan of Paiute (if the wind isn't crazy).

The Golden Knights were rock steady, balanced and had solid/great goaltending. A deserving champion indeed. I hope the Cup is on display for my next trip.
 


Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
Golden Pipes (Carnell Johnson) is the man. He's been doing the anthem since the first season too.

You know your business, clearly! Staying over there, away from the strip, all the creature comforts of Summerlin and City National Arena being right there. RR Station is a beautiful property, some great golf over there (Bears Best, among others), getting off-strip is definitely the way to go. Well done, Captain!

A little tiresome hearing of Panthers' injuries (it's June, everyone is banged up), this Vegas team was deep, like crazy deep. Just not really a hole on the entire lineup (they hammered the Panthers in 5 games and Eichel didn't score a goal; crazy).
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Las Vegas got lucky to get Florida. One wonders what Boston could have been.

They also got lucky by having a career journeyman goalie become a number 1 overnight. Hill will turn back into a pumpkin next year although he will likely be a rich pumpkin (and no longer in Vegas).
 

Winnipegopher said:
Las Vegas got lucky to get Florida. One wonders what Boston could have been.

They also got lucky by having a career journeyman goalie become a number 1 overnight. Hill will turn back into a pumpkin next year although he will likely be a rich pumpkin (and no longer in Vegas).
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Virtually every team that has ever won a championship got lucky along the way, in some way or another. I'm completely comfortable with how things shook out. Boston blew it, that's their own fault.

As far as Hill, no doubt, Cassidy's system has notoriously been "goalie-friendly"; everything pushed to the outside, long shots from the perimeter, very few high-danger chances. Next year? Who knows? Between Robin Lehner, Logan Thompson (starter for more than half the season), Laurent Brossoit, and Adin Hill, they'll put together some kind of goalie tandem
 



Winnipegopher said:
Las Vegas got lucky to get Florida. One wonders what Boston could have been.

They also got lucky by having a career journeyman goalie become a number 1 overnight. Hill will turn back into a pumpkin next year although he will likely be a rich pumpkin (and no longer in Vegas).
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You can only play the teams they put in front of you and the NHL playoffs always seems to carry a "hot goalie" storyline. Vegas earned it.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
Virtually every team that has ever won a championship got lucky along the way, in some way or another. I'm completely comfortable with how things shook out. Boston blew it, that's their own fault.

As far as Hill, no doubt, Cassidy's system has notoriously been "goalie-friendly"; everything pushed to the outside, long shots from the perimeter, very few high-danger chances. Next year? Who knows? Between Robin Lehner, Logan Thompson (starter for more than half the season), Laurent Brossoit, and Adin Hill, they'll put together some kind of goalie tandem
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Absolutely on the luck. Every Stanley Cup winner has had a ton of luck.

I lived in Edmonton for a while so follow lots of Oilers twitter. They are gutted as they know this was a year they could have won it all. Unfortunately for them, Las Vegas's no-name goalie outplayed Edmonton's unproven rookie (who I think will turn out to be good).

As for me, I am stuck supporting a team that needs a rebuild but won't tear down its mediocre roster. The Jets future looks pretty bleak right now.
 





Winnipegopher said:
Absolutely on the luck. Every Stanley Cup winner has had a ton of luck.

I lived in Edmonton for a while so follow lots of Oilers twitter. They are gutted as they know this was a year they could have won it all. Unfortunately for them, Las Vegas's no-name goalie outplayed Edmonton's unproven rookie (who I think will turn out to be good).

As for me, I am stuck supporting a team that needs a rebuild but won't tear down its mediocre roster. The Jets future looks pretty bleak right now.
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This will be an interesting offseason for the Jets, no doubt about it. Who knows who is staying and who is going.

People love to bag on VGK, the expansion draft was rigged, blah, blah, blah... What the average NHL fan doesn't know is just how committed owner Bill Foley and the front office is to winning; they don't bat an eyelash at swinging for the fences, making the big move, moving off a contract they don't like even if it means overpaying another team to take that contract, etc. How many other NHL teams in the last few years would have the stones to trade for Mark Stone, trade for Pacioretty, sign Alex Pietrangelo, trade for Jack Eichel, et al?

Not every owner and not every franchise is really 100% all in on winning, there's no doubt about that
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
This will be an interesting offseason for the Jets, no doubt about it. Who knows who is staying and who is going.

People love to bag on VGK, the expansion draft was rigged, blah, blah, blah... What the average NHL fan doesn't know is just how committed owner Bill Foley and the front office is to winning; they don't bat an eyelash at swinging for the fences, making the big move, moving off a contract they don't like even if it means overpaying another team to take that contract, etc. How many other NHL teams in the last few years would have the stones to trade for Mark Stone, trade for Pacioretty, sign Alex Pietrangelo, trade for Jack Eichel, et al?

Not every owner and not every franchise is really 100% all in on winning, there's no doubt about that
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I think the average fan, at least in Winnipeg, understands that Vegas plays to win. I think we laso hope it comes back to bite them in the ass as players don't want to be there but that seems to be wishful thinking.

Las Vegas also seems to be quite astute in identifying talent. I don't think the expansion draft was rigged, Las Vegas just exploited the fact that NHL GMs were in love with their own talent (Just looked- the Jets swapped pick 13 for pick 24 so the Knights wouldn't take Marko Dano- yikes).

If the GMs had just played it straight and let Vegas pick the best available, the Knights likely would have struggled but instead they all wheeled and dealed to protect "assets". In almost every case surrounding the expansion draft, Las Vegas won the deal and usually by a large margin.
 


Winnipegopher said:
Las Vegas also seems to be quite astute in identifying talent. I don't think the expansion draft was rigged, Las Vegas just exploited the fact that NHL GMs were in love with their own talent (Just looked- the Jets swapped pick 13 for pick 24 so the Knights wouldn't take Marko Dano- yikes).
If the GMs had just played it straight and let Vegas pick the best available, the Knights likely would have struggled but instead they all wheeled and dealed to protect "assets". In almost every case surrounding the expansion draft, Las Vegas won the deal and usually by a large margin.
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These are some pretty good points. Honestly, it was largely a perfect storm. I have basically said that if Vegas made 20 deals during that draft, they just happen to hit on about 18 of them, just an astronomical number. Who saw William Karlsson going from 6 goals with CBJ to 43 goals the next year with Vegas? The addition of Marc-Andre Fleury is probably highly, HIGHLY understated; he was the face of the team, the franchise, the city, and Pitt GAVE Vegas a 2nd round pick just to take Fleury's fat contract because they were moving on.

It's all ancient history now, but there are lots of people who just can't let it go.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Back with a vengeance.

Obviously they're one of the most successful expansion franchises in history, if not THE most. Other than saying some variation of, "they've done a fantastic job," what's specifically been their secret? What are they doing that others haven't figured out and could learn from and emulate?
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This is an interesting tidbit I thought I would share because I remember your question, and I literally just learned this yesterday.

Way back in 2016, when VGK was just putting together the front office, preparing for the expansion draft, they actually HIRED the developer and owner of a salary cap internet tool called "General Fanager" a man named Tom Poraszka. Once he was hired, the General Fanager site closed down and some guys saw an opening in the market and developed "CapFriendly", which is a salary cap site that is immensely helpful, I spend way too much time looking at it.

Safe to say, having a man on board who was knowledgable enough to develop a salary cap website has been a massive benefit in how VGK has worked with the salary cap over the year. No doubt many franchises have some talented people helping them navigate the cap but I would guess this guy has to be near the top of the list
 



Bad Gopher said:
Back with a vengeance.

Obviously they're one of the most successful expansion franchises in history, if not THE most. Other than saying some variation of, "they've done a fantastic job," what's specifically been their secret? What are they doing that others haven't figured out and could learn from and emulate?
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And there just happens to be another answer to your question! Holy brutal.

The confetti has barely been cleared from LV Blvd from the Stanley Cup parade and VGK just traded original Golden Misfit, Reilly Smith, for a 3rd round pick. Damn. That is some cold harsh shit. The original Misfit line was beloved since Day One, some fans are going to be really f'ng pissed.

But this answers your question, VGK damn sure doesn't make emotional or "sentimental" decisions; franchises that do that get left in the dust and in the rubble. The front office got roasted by fans for moving M-A Fleury, even though it was the right move and it was coming for over a year.

Interesting to see the fallout from this one, although almost simultaneously, they re-signed Ivan Barbashev for the same $5M/yr number, and Barby is 5 years younger and a piece that every fan wanted to keep after picking him up this year as a rental. So essentially, Reilly Smith for Ivan Barbashev and a 3rd round pick? I'll take it.
 



When the Twins lose their opening round series, will this be the first time that the same market has had teams in the four major professional sports make the playoff and lose their opening round game/series?
 

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Yesterday was the first day for Club Member season ticket holders to get their picture taken with the Stanley Cup. NO, this is not our picture (screw that), this is actually Dr. Koe, the orthopedic surgeon who did my shoulder scope last spring and his family, they just have seats near mine.

MC1_1017.jpg

We were allowed to touch the Cup, but sadly not allowed to "hoist" the Cup for the pictures. OH well...
 

"Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Don't be so weak next time. ;)
 



^^ not quite as bad as Ocean's 11, but still!


So anyway, back to the thread:

When the Twins lose their opening round series, will this be the first time that the same market has had teams in all four major professional sports make the playoff and lose their opening round game/series?
 

The Vikings are making a strong bid to be realistically eliminated before the Twins.
 

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