Golden Knights to ‘get away’ and make the most out of well-earned break

By Justin Emerson

Monday, Jan. 28, 2019 | 2 a.m.

Sometimes hockey is just like any other job. You come to work every day, stay late some nights, and after a while, need a vacation.

The Golden Knights are on that vacation, the combination of the All-Star break and bye week giving them eight days between games, or more than a week of much-needed rest.

“I think personally it’s going to be three or four days of zero hockey, zero hockey talk,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “It’ll be fun to get away. Change of scenery, get a little bit of a reset before the grind starts.”

The Golden Knights have earned their respite more than any other team in the NHL. They’re tied with four other teams in having played a league-high 52 games, and that’s coming off of an abbreviated two-month offseason after reaching last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

Despite the grueling schedule, Vegas stands solidly in the playoffs with a 29-19-4 record, currently a full 10 points ahead of the final Western Conference wild-card qualifier.

That’s largely by virtue of an exhaustive midseason surge, during which team the team went 18-3-3 in a stretch from late November to early January. The Golden Knights tailed off in the last two weeks before the break, losing four of six, but the hope is that some time away can prove refreshing ahead of the final 30 regular-season games.

Vegas returns to action on Feb. 1 at Carolina, but most of the players have big plans before then.

Much like last year when a contingent of Golden Knights traveled to Cabo San Lucas together during their break, Brandon McNabb said he would be vacationing alongside a few teammates. Alex Tuch said he was going to Michigan to watch his brother Luke play for the U.S. National Under-17 Team. Ryan Carpenter was on his way to Florida, and Jonathan Marchessault and his family are headed to Hawaii.

“We’re really lucky to be able to go on a family trip in the middle of the season,” Marchessault said. “Not a lot of people can do that. We’re honored to be able to have a career that you can go midseason like this.”

The common theme was getting away from hockey. The team practices or plays almost every day from October to April, and that's without considering the postseason.

This will be their longest stretch of the season in between games.

“It’s going to be eight days off and ready to go back. I think it’s going to be awesome,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’m going to take the hockey hat off for about five or six days then I’ll be refreshed and ready to come back to Carolina. I’m really looking forward to the break.”

Not everyone is thrilled. Defenseman Nate Schmidt said he wished there were a few more games before the break. He was suspended for the first 20 games of the season, so he's perhaps the only Golden Knight who would prefer to forgo rest.

“For me personally, I almost kind of wish the break was further back. You’re just starting to hit the flow of the season,” he said. “I want there to be more, but at the same time I understand there’s a lot of guys in the room that need a break.”