Here's another part of the same piece... lots of great quotes from the players...
Stories from the Golden Knights' inaugural season
At one point, Foley told Neal about his belief that the Golden Knights could reach the playoffs in three years and win the Stanley Cup in six, a claim that had earned mockery around the hockey world. “He looked at me,” Foley says of Neal. “He was irritated. He said, ‘What do you mean? We’re going to make the playoffs this year.’ I said, ‘Oh, okay. I’m for it.’ I had no expectations, really. I thought we’d be building. I thought we’d have to grab some RFAs, be sneaky about it, do some trades, do something in terms of building the pipeline.”
Several weeks into the season, as Vegas barreled toward an 8-1-0 start, Foley encountered Neal again. “Don’t worry,” he told the veteran winger. “I remember what you said.”
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Neal on the atmosphere inside T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights boast the NHL’s best home record at 19-3-2: “I was in the stands for every preseason game. The first time I went on the ice was the first game against Arizona. The second I got on for warmups, I was struggling because of how fast the building felt and how fast the game was. Because of the atmosphere, because the seats are dark, because the fans are on top of you, because of how bright it is, how loud it is—the whole atmosphere would make you feel uncomfortable as an opposing team.
“I know exactly how guys are feeling coming into that rink. It’s quick. It’s different. You saw a prime example in Nashville last year. Ask any player who faced team last year how hard it was playing in our building. Every single person would be like, ‘I felt like I was slow, I felt I couldn’t get to pucks, all because of the way the building is, the way fans are, the way people are on top of you, how loud it is.’ We play a fast game. We play our systems. We move the puck quick. We’re a relentless team. We just go. Everybody’s working. That’s how we’re having success.”