Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken are officially ready for the 2024 NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park after unveiling their specialty jerseys for the matchup.

The Golden Knights and Kraken unveiled their jerseys for the outdoor tilt at the home of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

Seattle's jersey is an ode to the Seattle Metropolitans, who played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924 and also won the Stanley Cup in 1917. They feature tricolor stripes with a Kraken crest in the middle and the year 1917 on the collar.

The original Metropolitans uniforms were red, green and white with horizontal stripes. They also featured an "S" crest with "Seattle" written inside of it.

The jerseys also honor the Seattle Eskimos (1928-31), who played at the Civic Ice Arena, which is now Climate Pledge Arena—home of the Kraken—and the Portland Rosebuds, which became the first team to have names engraved on the Stanley Cup despite not winning the title in 1916.

The Golden Knights' jersey draws "inspiration from the Wild West and cowboy era of the 1910s, Vegas' Winter Classic jersey's colors reflect the time period with the vintage white base, a deeper and richer gold used in the piping, and the felt fabric in the logo."

The jersey crest draws inspiration from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point uniforms. Golden Knights owner Bill Foley attended West Point.

Additionally, there are seven stars on the collar to represent the team's seven years of existence.

The Golden Knights are the reigning Stanley Cup champions and are aiming to become the first team to repeat as title winners since the 2020 and 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning. Bruce Cassidy's squad is off to a hot start to the 2023-24 campaign, boasting a 13-4-2 record heading into Wednesday's matchup against the Dallas Stars.

After clinching a berth in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season, the Kraken are hoping to build upon their success in their third NHL season. However, Seattle is off to a rough 7-8-5 start and will be looking to turn things around on Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks.

The Golden Knights and Kraken have met just once this season, with Vegas taking a 4-1 win in their season opener. This will mark the first Winter Classic appearance for both franchises.

First, Adin Hill helped lead the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup.

Now, he might be in line for a contract extension.

According to NHL reporter Elliotte Friedman, the goaltender "is looking at an extension in Vegas" that will pay him approximately $4.9 million per year over two additional seasons. That would represent a significant raise after he made less than $2.7 million in base salary during the 2022-23 campaign.

While Hill would have had plenty of leverage in the open market after his postseason performance made him a Vegas icon, he has also played for three different teams during the last three seasons.

Re-signing with the Golden Knights provides some stability and will allow him to pursue a second consecutive championship on a team that figures to once again be in the mix in 2023-24.

The 27-year-old played for the Arizona Coyotes from 2017-18 through 2020-21 and the San Jose Sharks in 2021-22 before Vegas acquired him via trade ahead of the past season. He ended up playing 27 games with 25 starts for the team during the regular season and posted a 2.5 goals against average and .915 save percentage.

Those are solid numbers, but he made his mark in the pressure of the playoffs.

Hill finished the postseason run with an 11-4 record, 2.17 goals against average and .932 save percentage. He posted the numbers while facing some of the league's best offenses and playmakers in the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers.

Laurent Brossoit played all five games in the Golden Knights' first-round win over the Winnipeg Jets, but the eventual champions made the switch to Hill during the second-round series against the Oilers.

The rest is history, and they are now Stanley Cup champions for the first time.

And Hill is set to cash in as a result.

Saturday was a night of celebration for the Vegas Golden Knights, but it was also a time of reflection for the franchise and the city.

The Golden Knights celebrated their 2023 Stanley Cup title with a parade down the Las Vegas Strip on Saturday night, but the NHL's expansion franchise that began play during the 2017-18 season also took the time to honor victims of the October 2017 mass shooting that killed 60 people and injured more than 850 others.

The franchise brought out the "Vegas Strong" banner to honor all those who lost their lives in the shooting.

"From day one, it was never about lifting a trophy. It was about lifting a city," Golden Knights in-arena host Mark Shunock said (one hour, 49-minute mark). "And while there are thousands, hundreds of thousands of you here tonight, there are some who would have loved to have been here with us, and we can never forget. So these names on this banner are forever imprinted on our hearts."

A gunman opened fired from the 32nd floor windows of the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 20,000 people at an outdoor country music festival in October 2017, which was the same month the Golden Knights opened play in the NHL.

The gunman killed himself before police were able to reach him, and his motive for the attack remains unclear.

The Golden Knights played a big role in helping the Las Vegas community heal after the tragic event, and the team's Stanley Cup victory was a reminder that the team is truly one with the city.

The Vegas Golden Knights are the 2023 Stanley Cup champions, and their fans won't have to wait long to celebrate their victory.

The Golden Knights are set to hold their championship parade this Saturday on the Las Vegas Strip starting at 10 p.m. ET:

According to the team, the parade will begin on Saturday at "Flamingo Road at 7 p.m. PT. The parade route extends to Tropicana Boulevard. Both sides of Las Vegas Boulevard will be closed during the parade. The parade will culminate with a rally on Toshiba Plaza and the Park District in front of T-Mobile Arena, beginning at approximately 9 p.m. PT."

Check local listings for television information.

The Golden Knights closed out their Stanley Cup Final series against the Florida Panthers with an emphatic 9-3 blowout victory on Tuesday night to win the series 4-1. Vegas entered the league as an expansion team just six years ago, becoming the second-fastest team to win the Stanley Cup in the expansion era (since 1967) behind the Edmonton Oilers, who did so in their fifth season.

Star forward Jonathan Marchessault was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as postseason MVP. He's one of just six players who remained on the roster from the Golden Knights' inaugural season. It's fitting that Marchessault and the rest of that group will be able to celebrate together in Sin City.

This will mark the second championship celebration for the city of Las Vegas in as many years. The Las Vegas Aces commemorated their 2022 WNBA championship with a parade on the Strip and a celebration in front of the Bellagio fountains. It was the first-ever major sports championship for a Las Vegas-based team.

The Vegas Golden Knights are the 2023 Stanley Cup Champions following a 4-1 series win over the Florida Panthers that was never that close.

The Western Conference champions dominated the ice throughout the series, capping it off with a barrage of goals Tuesday night in front of a home crowd that watched the first world title victory in franchise history.

"I've never had so much fun in my life," forward and series star Jonathan Marchessault told Sportsnet after the game. "... It's the most proud group I've ever had."

Marchessault won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after finishing with 13 postseason goals and 25 points.

The Golden Knights star did not take the credit for the team's success, though, telling reporters, "There's a bunch of guys that stepped up at the right time. This year's playoffs, every round, there was somebody that stepped up. You don't get here by just one or two guys. It takes the full effort of the organization. It's something that we can really be proud of."

Vegas put up nine goals in Game 5 on an overmatched Panthers squad, never really giving Florida a chance to work the magic that helped the Eastern Conference champions come from behind and eliminate favorite Boston in the first round.

Jack Eichel, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL draft, rediscovered his love of hockey after years of injuries and lack of success with the Buffalo Sabres.

"It's the hardest thing in the world. So many people go through their whole career without having the opportunity to hoist a Stanley Cup. I think it's only human nature to let some doubt creep in when you don't make the playoffs for an extended period of time. You're wondering if it will ever happen," he told reporters.

Eichel finished his postseason run with six goals and 20 assists for 26 points.

After years of chasing a playoff victory in Toronto, veteran Phil Kessel hoisted his third Stanley Cup on Tuesday. He had won two with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"Takes me back to my Toronto days. You guys said I couldn't win, and now I'm a three-time champ, remember that," he told The Hockey News after the game (h/t CBS News).

Zach Whitecloud became the first indigenous player from the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation to win the Stanley Cup and expressed his pride in his culture to Sportsnet after the game.

The Golden Knights began as a hodgepodge of cast-offs, a team born of an expansion draft with no real expectations. Six players remained from that first team—"misfits," as team captain Mark Stone called them.

Those players?

Reilly Smith, Shea Theodore, William Karlsson, Brayden McNabb, William Carrier and the aforementioned Marchessault.

On the heels of a Cup-clinching hat trick, Stone made sure it was those six Golden Knights OGs that had the opportunity to hoist the ultimate prize first.

"But once we had that big lead with a couple of minutes left, I looked at Smitty and thought it meant a lot to hand it to those six guys," he told Gene Principe of Sportsnet.

"Those guys are a big part of the reason why we're standing here today, creating the culture that is the Vegas Golden Knights."

A team of misfits, journeymen, stars only in their own locker room and grizzled veterans helped fuel the Golden Knights to their first championship.

Their victory wrapped up an unpredictable, unforgettable postseason that began with their opponents, the Panthers, ousting Boston in a seven-game series and eliminating Toronto in the second round. It included top seeds eliminated in their opening matchups, stars like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews suffering early exits, and ended with the best team celebrating the ultimate victory.

Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel captured his first Stanley Cup title eight years into his career.

Speaking to reporters after the Golden Knights' 9-3 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 5 on Tuesday night, Eichel explained he feels "really fortunate and blessed" to have won a championship after a long wait.

"I think it's only human nature to have some doubt creep in when you don't make it to playoffs for an extended period of time," he said. "You're wondering if it will ever happen. So many people go through their whole career without having the opportunity to hoist the Stanley Cup. It's the hardest thing in the world [to win]."

Eichel entered the NHL with tremendous hype as the No. 2 overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2015 draft.

In six seasons with the Sabres, he was a productive offensive player. He scored at least 24 goals in each of his first five seasons, but the team had struggled to find its footing with no playoff appearances since 2010-11.

The relationship between Eichel and the Sabres deteriorated over time, most notably during the 2020-21 season when he only played in 21 games due to a neck injury.

Per Wajih AlBaroudi, Eichel's doctors recommended an artificial disk replacement to fix the injury. The Sabres requested he undergo fusion surgery in part because the artificial disk replacement had never been done on an NHL player, and the league's collective bargaining agreement gives clubs the final say over a player's injury recovery.

Eichel's agents released a public statement in July 2021, in which they stated the "process is not working" and preventing him from being able to play.

Vegas acquired Eichel from Buffalo in November 2021 in a deal involving three players and three draft picks. He had the disk replacement surgery soon after the trade and missed three months before returning in February 2022.

The 26-year-old led the Golden Knights with 66 points during the 2022-23 regular season. He was fantastic in the postseason with 26 points in 22 games, including three assists in Tuesday's closeout game against the Panthers.

The victory gave Vegas its first Stanley Cup title in its sixth year of existence. The team had a franchise-record 111 points during the regular season.