No one in the dressing room is being fooled right now. Same goes for the coaches’ offices. To a man, the Vegas Golden Knights know this isn’t good enough.
It’s easy to be negative right now because of the results. Watching a Stanley Cup championship team lose to non-playoff teams is frustrating. The positive ledger for the Golden Knights, however, remains largest.
Certainly the clock is ticking and the margin for error is reduced. But there is time for this group to find its game and if it does, look out.
Bruce Cassidy knows what it takes. So do his players. They had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup last summer due to a combination of talent, experience and will.
They are winners.
No question, the Vegas Golden Knights have the heart of a champion.
But, and the reasons for this may be myriad and complicated; the will, desire and commitment has gone missing from this group. And they know it.
Hockey czars Kelly McCrimmon and George McPhee have done their part and reloaded the club from a talent aspect. Captain Mark Stone, forward Tomas Hertl and defenseman Alec Martinez remain injured but this club is plenty good enough to be winning at a better clip.
The answers aren’t that difficult to grasp. The team needs to play like every shift is paramount. But desperation is difficult to manufacture. It needs to be authentic. It needs to be instinct rather than intellect.
Having watched this group up close for the entirety of the franchise’s existence, questioning its will is a fool’s errand and would just be a desperate reach for clicks. That’s not what we’re here for or what we’re saying. Is the group missing some of its steam right now? That’s obvious. Is it permanently elusive? Certainly not.
Winning is like eating a meal. For a time satisfaction sets in. But at some point, a body gets hungry again.
That time is now for the Golden Knights. A look back at what they achieved and how they did it might be instructive.
They created memories for a lifetime in Vegas. Maybe they need their collective memory jogged.
It’s Hard To Win. It Hurts To Win. Team slogans from last season. And they're true. But we all learned, as a team, a franchise, a fanbase and a city, that it was worth it in the end.
It’s time to remember. It’s time to want. It’s time to find that championship magic. Put simply, now is the time.
MORE VGK NEWS | SINGLE GAME TICKETS | HOW TO WATCH | HOMEPAGE
