Golden Knights excited, motivated to get season underway

By Justin Emerson

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019 | 2 a.m.

Golden Knights players are back in town skating informally at City National Arena. They’re catching up on their offseasons, getting in their last rounds of summer golf and preparing for the season to start.

They can’t wait.

“It was too long of an offseason,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “It’s going to be good this year and we’re all really excited.”

The veterans have to wait another week before training camp officially begins on Sept. 12, with the first preseason game three days later.

There’s also the matter of how last season ended. Fans certainly haven’t forgotten the gut-wrenching Game 7 loss in San Jose in April, and neither have the players.

“It never really goes away, it still lingers,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “We’re all excited, we’re all motivated and that’s the biggest weapon going into the season.”

Forward Ryan Reaves was the lightning rod for Golden Knights-Sharks relations during the postseason, and during a wedding ceremony he officiated he introduced himself as “Kane’s worst nightmare,” referring to his high-profile feud with Sharks forward Evander Kane.

Kane replied on Twitter, showing that bygones have no intention of being bygones when the two teams meet on opening night Oct. 2, and that the loss to the Sharks will be a motivator all season long.

“The way it ended last year, the way it ended two years ago, we want that Cup,” Reaves said. “We’re ready to run right away.”

With a few notable exceptions, the Golden Knights largely return the same team that skated off the ice in San Jose. Colin Miller, Erik Haula and Nikita Gusev were traded in order to stay under the salary cap, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Ryan Carpenter departed as free agents. Vegas signed a few minor league players, but there were no splashes like Paul Stastny or Max Pacioretty from last summer.

The team is fine with that. Players understand the realities of a salary cap world and don’t feel like they needed any major offseason acquisitions to be a Stanley Cup contender.

“It was obviously a little hard but I really believe in our (general managers) and our organization to do the right decisions and they never disappoint,” Marchessault said. “We know each other, we all know our roles, and we’re ready to push each other and have a great year.”