The Vast Decline of the Golden Knights' Fanbase

On Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights lost the West Division and the Presidents' Trophy when the Colorado Avalanche won 5-1 over the Los Angeles Kings. As an Avalanche fan since the team's final two years as the Quebec Nordiques, I was in an immensely celebratory mood over the Avalanche finishing the season with the league's best record, and I went on YouTube to watch the highlights. As I scrolled through the comments, I found a couple from fans of the Golden Knights saying that the Avalanche "didn't deserve" to win the Presidents' Trophy, and mocking the Avalanche for "letting 15 skaters dominate them," a reference to Monday's head-to-head game, which the Avalanche won, 2-1. Another comment actually blamed Robin Lehner, the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury, for Monday's loss, stating that he "let in a pair of softies." Oh boy.

You know, what happened to the Golden Knights and their fanbase?! Remember when the Golden Knights were a feel good story? They debuted in the NHL in 2017, and their inaugural season started just days, literal days, after the hotel shooting in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017. Their home opener featured a moment of silence for the victims of that shooting, and because the Knights hit the jackpot in the expansion draft, they had a 100-point season, won the Pacific, and went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. They even won a game in the Final, taking Game One over the Washington Capitals, and even though they lost the next four, their season was one for the books and was a true success story. But since then, they've fallen, not as a franchise, but the team and the fanbase has become quite toxic. If I had to pinpoint an exact time that this toxic transformation began, I'd have to go with Game Seven of the Pacific Semifinals against the San Jose Sharks in 2019.

We all know the story. Knights had a 3-1 series lead over the Sharks in that series, but lost Game Five soundly, and lost Game Six in double overtime with a shorthanded goal from Tomas Hertl. The Knights went up 3-0 in Game Seven and took that lead into the third period, but it was in the middle of that final frame that the Knights committed that major penalty, resulting in a five-minute Power Play for the Sharks. The Sharks scored four goals in that Power Play and took the lead, and after the Knights tied it up late to force overtime, Barclay Goodrow (still can't believe the Sharks didn't keep him, now he's a Stanley Cup Champion in Tampa Bay) won it with just over a minute left.

The Golden Knights not only blew a 3-1 series lead, they blew a 3-0 lead in the third period of Game Seven by giving up four goals in a five-minute Power Play. Yet who did the team and fans blame? Cody Eakin for committing the penalty? The penalty kill for giving up the goals? Themselves for not showing up in Games Five and Six? Nope. They blamed the refs. The Golden Knights said that the penalty was the only reason why they lost to the Sharks, even going as far as saying that it wasn't a major. Even worse, the league actually apologized to the Knights. Again, oh boy.

The Golden Knights conduct became worse in the bubble in 2020, as the team won the Round Robin and got the #1 seed, but after making quick work of the Chicago Blackhawks, they struggled in the end of their series against the Vancouver Canucks--getting shutout twice in Games Five and Six, but surviving Game Seven to advance to the Western Conference Final. However, the Golden Knights' offensive sputtering continued in that series, and it led them to lose in five games to the Dallas Stars. Who did fans focus their anger on? Robin Lehner. Never mind the fact that the Knights scored a grand total of eight goals in the entire series, it's Lehner's fault they lost. It would be like Mets fans blaming Jacob deGrom for losing games he starts, even though the Mets provide no run support for him--"Well, he should have pitched a no-hitter, we'd have won if he did! Everybody else is pitching no-hitters this season!"

And Lehner is every bit as good as Fleury, so blaming him makes no sense. Yet even now, Lehner gets blame for Knights' losses. Did Knights fans forget that Fleury got clobbered in a game against the Avalanche this season? Or how about Vegas going 3-5 vs the Minnesota Wild this season, and getting shut out in Minnesota? That's Lehner's fault, too, right? Bottom line, the Vegas Golden Knights, in just four seasons of existence, have gone from a team fans could be happy for to becoming a toxic mess. Regarding their fans, they've gone from a good bunch who is happy to have a team, to an ornery bunch who fingerpoints and does nothing but make excuses when things don't go their way. Don't be those hockey fans. Be better.

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