Capitals congratulate Vegas in full-page ad
The Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals took out a full-page ad to congratulate the Vegas Golden Knights on their historic inaugural season.
The ad, which appeared in Tuesday’s edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, pays tribute to the expansion team’s run that ended with a loss to the Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Capitals commended the Golden Knights on their “world class ownership, front office, coaching staff and people” and “team of talented, hard-working players and stars.”
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Vegas, which didn’t even have a team a year ago, topped the Pacific Division to become the first expansion team to make the playoffs since the 1967 NHL expansion that took the league from six to 12 teams.
However, four expansion teams during that 1967-68 season were guaranteed to make the playoffs, with the NHL putting the six new teams in the newly formed West Division.
That alignment is also the only reason the Golden Knights weren’t the first expansion team to make the Stanley Cup Final.
The 1967-68 St. Louis Blues finished third in the West that year against its expansion brethren. The Blues beat the Flyers and North Stars in the first two rounds before getting swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the Final.
With their home win in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Golden Knights became the first expansion team to win a Cup Final game, but went on to fall to the Capitals in five games.
