Hill 'thriving in the moment' with Golden Knights close to Stanley Cup

LAS VEGAS --Adin Hill insists he never stopped believing that he'd be in this position, the starting goalie on a team one win away from a Stanley Cup championship.

The Vegas Golden Knights goalie didn't waver when he was cut in minor hockey or when he wasn't drafted in the Western Hockey League. He believed through those days in the ECHL, the years in American Hockey League, back and forth from Tucson to the Arizona Coyotes, last season with the San Jose Sharks.

"I mean, starting with my career as a child growing up, I faced adversity too," Hill said. "You get cut from teams. You don't make a team you want. I didn't get drafted in the WHL. You're always going to have bumps in the road. It's just sticking to the plan, not changing your course of action or thought, just keep working."

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Hill, now 27 years old, can turn the unrelenting belief he has had in himself into reality Tuesday, when he leads the Golden Knights onto the ice as their starter for the 14th straight game since May 10.

Only this time, the Stanley Cup will be in the building for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between Vegas and the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS). The Golden Knights lead the best-of-7 series, 3-1.

Hill is 10-4 this postseason with a 2.11 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and two shutouts.

"It's probably the best I've played," Hill said. "I'm having fun, just enjoying it. The team is having a good time too. It's almost the best everyone in this locker room has played. That's what it takes to win the Stanley Cup. We just have to keep it going."

Hill's rise to being the towering goalie in Vegas' net for a potential Stanley Cup championship is the unlikeliest of stories in a series filled with so many great ones.

The Golden Knights acquired him in a trade from the San Jose Sharks on Aug. 29, 2022. It wasn't exactly a desperation move because Vegas knew about Hill and goalie coach Sean Burke vouched for him, but under the circumstances it wasn't exactly ideal for them.

Video: VGK@FLA, Gm4: Hill stops Verhaeghe in final seconds announced a few weeks earlier he would miss the entire season because of hip surgery. Laurent Brossoit was expected to be out until at least November because of his own surgeries. Logan Thompson had 20 games of NHL experience.

Hill came in as the Golden Knights' most veteran available goalie with 74 games of NHL experience. But he was not expected to be the answer, not during training camp, the regular season or entering the playoffs.

"Going back to the start of the year, I don't think anyone really knew what our goalie situation was going to be like," Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague said. "Maybe someone did. I certainly didn't."

Hill played 27 games. He was solid, as were all five Golden Knights goalies who played during the regular season. Hill went 16-7-1 with a 2.50 GAA and .915 save percentage. Good numbers, albeit a small sample size.

With Thompson injured, Brossoit was Vegas' No. 1 goalie entering the playoffs. He got the Golden Knights through the Western Conference First Round, a five-game series against the Winnipeg Jets, and into Game 3 of the second round against the Edmonton Oilers.

Then Brossoit sustained an injury at 11:44 of the first period. He was done for good, as the Golden Knights eventually learned. Thompson was already out long term. Jonathan Quick was not in uniform. It was on Hill.

He was perfect against 24 shots in a 5-1 win. The rest could soon be history.

"I'm really happy for him," Hague said. "I'm sure he probably wouldn't have thought we'd be in this position and he'd be the starter, but he's played as good as anyone. He makes big saves when we need them. He's thriving in the moment."

Hill said he knew he would. It doesn't sound like lip service either.

"This is how I've always thought I'd be," he said. "I've always been even-keeled, keep emotions aside and just focus on what I have to focus on. It's exciting but I'm trying to stay in the moment."

He has Quick to lean on if he needs him, a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has been his backup since Game 4 against Edmonton. He has Burke, a former NHL goalie and longtime goalie coach who has known Hill since he played with his son, Brendan, in Portland of the WHL.

"If anything is there certainly reach out to those guys, but I don't think there is," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I think he's fine. He's just got that personality."

It's a swagger.

You can see it in Hill's play, in his positioning. You can see it when the Panthers attack his crease, how he fights back, a willingness to use his blocker or catching glove for reasons other than making a save as he did at the end of Game 4.

You can see it in how he walks into and out of the rink, how he sits and talks in his media availabilities, the calmness in his voice, the confidence he exudes.

There's a breeziness about him mixed with a competitive drive that has gotten Hill to this point.

"You can't ignore it that we're one win away from the ultimate goal in hockey," Hill said. "It's exciting, but at the same time it's just trying to keep your composure, keep it even-keel. Everyone in here, you can feel the atmosphere, we're excited. It's just focusing on what we need to do to get ready."

The Stanley Cup will be in the building Tuesday and Hill will be in the Golden Knights net, one win away from changing lives forever.

No one saw this coming this season, except maybe for Hill himself.

"You always think of it," Hill said. "Even when you're six years old, it's what you're thinking of. Now we're here."