In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. With the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken from T-Mobile Park coming on Jan. 1 (3 pm. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS), we feature Golden Knights president of hockey operations George McPhee in this edition.
George McPhee did not know or understand the true power of the Stanley Cup until this summer.
"I don't think I'll ever look at the Stanley Cup the same way again after the experience of winning it," McPhee said. "There's that moment when you get to lift it and everything else, but personally what that Stanley Cup does for your family and your friends is amazing. You take it back to your hometown and people you haven't seen in 40 years, 50 years show up, kids you played road hockey with. It's such a happy experience. It's a love fest."
McPhee had the Stanley Cup at his house in Summerlin, Nevada, twice, once for about an hour and a half strictly for his family and another time for about two hours so his neighbors could come by and touch it, feel it, take pictures with it, experience it.
Word spread through the neighborhood and more and more people kept arriving.
Then he brought it to his hometown of Guelph, Ontario, where he saw faces he hadn't seen in decades.
"That was a really emotional, meaningful experience," McPhee said. "After all the years in the game, what a neat way to spend time with the Cup."
McPhee won the Cup after parts of five decades in the NHL, a career spanning 40 years since he debuted as a player for the New York Rangers in the 1983 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
He was previously 0-3 in the Stanley Cup Final; losing as an executive with the Vancouver Canucks in 1994, the general manager of the Washington Capitals in 1998 and the Golden Knights GM in 2018, their inaugural season.
The 65-year-old became a champion last season.
"You take an expansion team and it wins the Stanley Cup six years later, it's hard to explain," McPhee said. "Even the night you win it, it's hard to believe. Brendan Shanahan said to me because I had mentioned that to him, 'You'll feel that way for the rest of your life.' Holy cow, that's OK."
McPhee sat down with NHL.com recently while in Seattle at the Board of Governors meeting earlier this month to talk about the Golden Knights, how they became a national brand and Stanley Cup champions, the impact the team has made in Las Vegas, the quest to repeat, and what it means to get a chance to play in the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic against the Seattle Kraken at T-Mobile Park on Jan. 1.
Does winning it spark those competitive juices to win it again?
"It does. It does. I remember when we were recruiting [defenseman Alex] Pietrangelo we asked him that question, because we don't want you to come to Vegas on a retirement contract, we want to win. He said, ‘No, when you win it once, it really makes you want to win it again.’ "
What you've done has become the standard for expansion franchises in sports now. Not just the NHL with the Kraken but if the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NFL or any other pro sports league in North America expands, the Golden Knights will be the model. Do you view that as part of the legacy the team is already leaving on the sporting landscape in North America?
"I guess people will look at it that way, but I think that's your responsibility as a manager or the president of a team. It's about winning and there should be more of an emphasis on that. I'm a little concerned about what's happening in our league. A GM gets a new job and tells his owner, 'You've got to rebuild it and this is going to take five years.' I'm not sure that you have to tear it down and just go into this rebuild. There are teams that haven't done that. The Boston Bruins haven't done that. The Dallas Stars haven't done that. They go in and they try to win. There should be more teams that should be taking that approach."
Did you think the Vegas Golden Knights could become a national brand?
"I thought there was something special there after Year One with the way that community responded to that hockey team. You could feel some civic pride when we first went to Vegas that they finally had a major league team. And then with the momentum that team created and built and the following; it was just extraordinary and still is the support that the team gets. So we knew something was there. [General manager] Kelly [McCrimmon] and I had talked about it about three months into our tenure in Vegas. We were in the office one day and we sat back and we both seemed to have the same thoughts at the same time and that was if we do our jobs here, we can win because everything else is here. This is a real desirable place to play. It's perfect weather throughout the hockey season. The desert winters are great. It's an easy place to get around. We all live in Summerlin. We can get to our practice rink in six minutes, 18 minutes to the game rink and five more minutes to the airport. You don't get that in many NHL cities. An owner with the resources to win, to do things right, and he listens to his hockey staff. And other things that appeal to players, like no state income tax and so on. All of the things were there if management did its job. We had that tremendous year and there was no turning back or having a different plan. It was about we're all-in until we can win a Cup."
The Golden Knights played in an outdoor game at Lake Tahoe, but there were no fans because of COVID restrictions at the time. So this Winter Classic, while not a home game, will be the largest crowd you've played in front of. This is the big stage of the regular season if you will. What does it mean to the Golden Knights to just be a part of it?
"We're honored. When the League called and asked, we immediately said yes. We'd like to have one in Vegas someday, but to be in one, period, is an honor. You want to be on the national stage. That's where you want your franchise to be. Whether it's in the playoffs or the Winter Classic, it's where you want to be. We're really proud to be a part of it."
This is a marquee TV event and the big reason Vegas is in it is because Vegas is a draw, it can carry a national TV audience and attract interest. What does that tell you about what has happened in Vegas and, for that matter, Seattle?
"Well, [Commissioner] Gary [Bettman] and [Deputy Commissioner] Bill [Daly] were very prescient and very smart and did an amazing job on expansion in determining what markets to go into, and they had the guts to do it. Las Vegas and Seattle have been very good for the NHL and the NHL has been very good for Las Vegas and Seattle."
What do you think when you hear about more expansion talk?
"I don't mind it if we do as well as we've done it in the last couple of expansions. I think it'll be terrific for the League. We could use more teams in the U.S. It's a 32-team league but only 25 in the U.S. So there's room."
The start to this season, people talk about the Stanley Cup hangover, but it hasn't existed for the Golden Knights. Why do you think that is?
"I think the coaches have done a good job. 'Butch' [Bruce Cassidy] pushes our club in the right ways. And there's a lift there, there's a bounce there when you win the Cup. I've been to the Finals four times now and this is the first time we've won a Cup. It's heavy when you don't win. You come back and look and say, 'Oh, we're one of 31 other teams again.' It's different than if you've just won. There's a confidence, a bounce, adrenaline still, and a pride."
One of the players said after the run that they didn't feel they had been through four rounds because they were so deep and healthy, so they didn't wear out.
"There's real truth to that. We were banged up all year. We got healthy for the playoffs. We stayed healthy and they just kept getting better and better and better."
The anecdote you shared about Pietrangelo made me think of this; from the very beginning you were worried about not just the type of player but the type of people you were recruiting. In Pietrangelo and defenseman Alec Martinez and others, you have guys who won before and they're still hungry. Did that create the culture to win and want to win every year?
"We've worked hard on filling the team with high character people and great leadership. They decide, do you want to be a one-and-done or do you want to be a legacy team and win more than one Cup? That's the challenge you can present to them."
You have had a working relationship with Kelly McCrimmon that is of the same mind but with two different opinions in building the team and running it. Why is that important now from a hockey operations perspective when in the past it was always one person, the GM who may have also taken on a president of hockey operations title?
"Well, it's the demands of the business. It's really hard for one person to be able to keep an eye on everything in the organization. Kelly and I have developed this great friendship and great chemistry together, and we work through everything together. He'll take some things and I'll take some things just to make sure they get done. Like everything else in business, departments grow; your sports performance department, analytics department, scouting departments and so on, they just keep getting bigger and more advanced. At least with the way we operate, two heads are better than one."
You also have a long history with the Washington Capitals and you drafted (forward) Alex Ovechkin. You're removed from it for several years now, but when he scores a goal does part of you celebrate?
"Yes, and I've reached out to him a few times when he's hit some milestones and congratulated him, of course. You don't ever lose those friendships or caring about some of those players. They are in some ways like your kids. You draft them and you're with them for a while, bringing them along. I'm happy for him when good things happen, and for the organization. I worked there for 17 years. I'm proud of how we built that organization. It became a very competitive club and very well-run organization. The change was good for the club and good for me, and I do keep an eye on our former players, certainly 'Ovi.' There was a moment there, we were coming out of a work stoppage, and Alex was already in training camp with a team in Russia. We had three days to get a deal done. We were on a conference call and there must have been 12 or 14 people on the call with agents and parents and interpreters and everyone else. His parents wanted him to stay in Russia for another year. He decided he wanted to come and I had to assure his parents that we'd look after him. And we did. I got a call one day and he was in D.C. a couple weeks before training camp. I said, 'What are you doing?' And he said, 'I'm in a hotel downtown.' I told him I'm coming to him. I took him back to our place and I told him, 'You're staying here until training camp starts and then you'll be with your teammates.' But I wasn't having an 18-year-old kid in D.C. on his own not understanding the culture and the language. It was the right thing to do and obviously that's how the relationship starts. I saw his mother a few weeks ago when we were in Washington for the first time since I left Washington. I met his wife. I met his two boys. Time flies."
So you just got a call randomly one day with him saying, 'I'm here?'
"Yes. I didn't know he was coming. His English wasn't too bad but he was in a foreign country and, again, we had assured his parents we'd look after him so we did and we built a great relationship with his parents."
That is an amazing story. OK, last one for you, I think. The NHL is finalizing plans to go to Vegas for the 2024 NHL Draft. It'll be at the Sphere. How cool is that and have you ever been there?
"No. Glen Sather called the morning of opening night and he said, 'I've got an extra ticket, you want to come?' I said, 'I'd love to, but I have to do the Homecoming court with my daughter in high school, I have to walk her down the field. I can't miss that.' He said, 'I get it.' But anyone you talk to says it's just out of this world. It's just a fascinating and incredible opportunity and we are just so delighted to be able to host the draft at the Sphere. Holy cow, what a monumental moment in sports."
And potentially the last one that will be centralized for a while.
"Well, you wonder, because if it's phenomenal you might have some people going, 'Maybe we should keep doing this because you don't want to just give it to the NFL.' The NHL seized Vegas first and boy, that was just an extraordinary move by the League to do that. Now you've got everybody and his brother who wants to come. It was great to be there first because we're Vegas born and that means something to that community. We're not a relocation team. We didn't take any money from Vegas. We paid our own way. It's an incredibly popular team in Vegas as a result. When you go to a show on the strip, 95 percent of the people at that show are tourists. When you come to a hockey game, 95 percent of the people are locals, and they are incredibly loyal."
