Nobody arrives in Las Vegas by accident. Some come chasing a jackpot, some come running from a bad streak, and a few come because there’s simply nowhere left to go. The inaugural Golden Knights were all three: a roster of strangers dealt a fresh hand in a city built on second chances.
With the exception of Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith, who previously played together in Florida, the inaugural Golden Knights team was one full of strangers in a strange land, a land that had never had a major professional sports team to call its own.
When they arrived in Vegas, those inaugural Golden Knights all had one thing in common: on paper, they were a collection of spare parts that 30 other teams had cast aside and given up on.
Back in 2017, James Neal jokingly referred to the team as the “Golden Misfits.” But that nickname took on a life of its own, serving as a rallying cry that turned strangers into brothers.
He loves that it’s still in circulation.
“Yeah, I definitely still get a kick out of hearing it,” Neal laughed. “Hearing it just brings back a lot of really good memories of all the guys getting together. [We hadn’t] been in a situation like that ever really… You kind of had a fresh start after coming from a position or a team that wasn’t too fond of you, or you kind of felt like they gave up on you. So it was kind of a fitting name at the time. It was kind of a joke that turned into something where we kind of put our backs against the wall, and went out there, and played for, and became proud of.”
You might not remember this, but the Golden Knights weren’t supposed to be good that year. They were supposed to be pretty bad, actually. Broadcasters and analysts projected that they’d finish as a lottery team.
“I just went in with an open mind,” Neal said. “I didn’t put any crazy expectations on it; I just wanted to go in and enjoy it. For me, it was a contract year, and it was kind of like, you know, they’re gonna stack up on some older guys, and they’re gonna trade us because we weren’t going to be that good. So there were just a lot of different things going through my mind coming into it.”
Neal was fresh off hand surgery after a tough loss in the Stanley Cup Final, and he couldn’t take part in training camp. In fact, he wasn’t even sure he’d be ready for the first game of the regular season. But when the season began, he was in the lineup.
“I sure am glad that I was healthy enough and ready to go for game one, because it was a fun, fun first game,” said Neal. “ I think those first two games in Dallas and Arizona kind of set the tone for how our season was going to go.”
Of course, Neal didn’t just play in that first game in Dallas. He also scored the Golden Knights’ first goal, cementing his legacy in franchise history and ensuring he’d be the answer to trivia questions for years to come.
“It’s really cool,” he admitted. “It’s definitely something I talk about and joke about to people. It’s something I’m very proud of. In the moment, in the game, you don’t realize how you’re going to look back on things… It was pretty surreal, and a really cool moment. And after I scored that goal, I’ll never forget going back to the bench and just seeing the excitement on the guys’ faces. Guys were just so excited and so fired up, for our team, for us, just for each other.”
The players’ excitement for each other didn’t waver as the year went on. That year, the “Golden Misfits” proved that they were far more than the sum of other teams’ parts. Their regular-season record of 51-24-7 was the best of any NHL expansion team, and it was enough to finish first in the Pacific Division.
Of course, it helped that many of those Misfits enjoyed career years. William Karlsson scored 43 goals, a single-season record that still stands 10 years later. Jonathan Marchessault recorded 75 points. Reilly Smith hit 60 points. And at age 33, Marc-André Fleury recorded 29 wins and an average save percentage of .927, which was, at that time, a career-best.
“Everyone was so excited for each other,” said Neal.
Neal attributes some of that historic success to Gerard Gallant, the first head coach of the Golden Knights.
“The way he brought us in, and the way we went to practice every day, it was pretty simple,” Neal said. “It was ‘play hard, work hard for each other, and the rest will kind of take care of itself ’… And if you do that, good things are going to happen, for yourself and for your teammates and for your team.”
Neal said he’d always remember the passion with which the city of Las Vegas embraced their first major professional sports team.
“The way the city embraced us, the fan support… And then the rink, going into T-Mobile every night, the place was rocking,” he said. “You couldn’t get more energy and more excitement out of a rink than we did at T-Mobile.
“You didn’t realize how many people were from Las Vegas, didn’t realize how many people were dying for a sports team to root for,” Neal continued. “They were kind of dying to grasp onto a team that was theirs. And for the Golden Knights to be the first team to come there, I think everyone kind of grasped onto us. And then for us to have success and do what we did just kind of made it even better. And we hit the ground running, and it was fun.”
That inaugural season was a whirlwind. It was historic. It was a year of redemption.
But like Neal kept repeating, most of all– and most importantly– that year was fun. For many of the players, that inaugural season was about falling back in love with the game they played as kids.
“I just remember going to the rink excited every day, going to the rink with a smile on my face, and having fun,” Neal said. “Yeah, it was just a whole different atmosphere. I think guys were used to kind of going to the rink, you know, maybe pissed off or not in the best moods. And it was kind of a complete 180 for everybody.
“It was a special year all around,” he continued. “Everybody just became so close so fast; right from the first get-together, we all went out, had dinner, and kind of got right to it. From the first win all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, it was just an enjoyable year… Every day, we just enjoyed each other.
“And I think if you ask all the guys the same question, what was their favorite year playing hockey, I would say 95% of them would say the first year with Vegas.”
Saturday will be the 10th anniversary of the first Golden Knights home game. To celebrate, they’re going all-out in true Vegas fashion. The Welcome to Impossible Weekend festivities begin at 11 a.m. on Friday with a free autograph session during the team’s practice at City National Arena.
Fans will also have another chance to get autographs from members of the inaugural team at Fan Fest, which runs from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday before the Golden Knights’ home game against the Los Angeles Kings.
James Neal is one of the players returning to Las Vegas for the festivities. The others? Well, you’ll have to wait and see.
“First off, I can’t believe it’s already been 10 years. That flew by,” Neal chuckled. “I’m just looking forward to coming back and seeing old faces. I know that Turk, our coach, is coming… I was excited to hear that he was coming back because of the role that he played in bringing the guys together right from the start; I was excited to see that. And getting on the group text and shooting guys messages and seeing everybody excited to come back was pretty cool. I’m really looking forward to it.”
