Why are the Golden Knights disliked by a majority of the NHL community?

[Vegas07]

As someone that comes from California, I think Laker fans are the most spoiled and I say that as someone that has rooted for them over the years. It’s only after the last decade that I’ve seen some of them humbled a bit. It used to be frustrating talking to some of them with their impossible expectations.

People that are both Laker and Dodger fans are probably different though. Dodger fans know more about waiting and suffering.

 

[Vegas07]

It is true people from Vegas often come from somewhere else.

One thing that doesn’t get mentioned enough is people should see some of our local teams. UNLV basketball hasn’t won a tournament game since 2008, hasn’t won a conference since 2000, and the team keeps going thru coaches because the last decade has been terrible.

Don’t even get any local started on UNLV football. If you want to watch a struggling team watch some of those games.

And we have the Raiders now too. They used to win until about 20 years ago. That team almost never makes the playoffs anymore. I’m confident they will give us plenty of seasons with no playoffs.

To add to the point I made before, you can tell some locals never got over an undefeated UNLV team losing to Duke in the Final 4 in the early 90’s.

 

[Pia8988]

It is true people from Vegas often come from somewhere else.

One thing that doesn’t get mentioned enough is people should see some of our local teams. UNLV basketball hasn’t won a tournament game since 2008, hasn’t won a conference since 2000, and the team keeps going thru coaches because the last decade has been terrible.

Don’t even get any local started on UNLV football. If you want to watch a struggling team watch some of those games.

And we have the Raiders now too. They used to win until about 20 years ago. That team almost never makes the playoffs anymore. I’m confident they will give us plenty of seasons with no playoffs.

To add to the point I made before, you can tell some locals never got over an undefeated UNLV team losing to Duke in the Final 4 in the early 90’s.

UNLV basketball has never recovered since the NCAA effectively killed the program

 

[GoldenKnight]

Certainly, the initial success the franchise had seems to have spurred some fan jealousy around the league.

 

[finnishflash13]

Blues fan here so not a disgruntled bottom dweller nor am I upset Pietrangelo signed with you all (I didn't want him to re-sign with the Blues, so thanks). They're just such an easy target to dislike for me. I mean someone actually took the time to create a thread about why Vegas is so disliked, so I think a lot of it comes from Vegas' fans. I don't think Vegas fans, particularly ones who did not like hockey/NHL before, are that knowledgable so their reactions to the game can be annoying. And I look forward to how the "fans" respond once Vegas has a rebuilding spell or a few down years. It's easy right now to support a winning team.

 

[waitin425]

Habs fan saying ill dislike you tonight....but you've actually become my team to cheer for in the west.

Love your jerseys. Love the enthusiasm of the crowd. Love Vegas. Like several of your players. Can't wait to see a game down there.

But again...for tonight....I dislike you.

 

[tinyzombies]

There were quite a few Vegas fans in Montreal before this series. A lot of people have them as their second favorite team. It's been suspended for this series though. The TV ratings have been great for the Knights also, they are top 5 among US teams already.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

It is true people from Vegas often come from somewhere else.

One thing that doesn’t get mentioned enough is people should see some of our local teams. UNLV basketball hasn’t won a tournament game since 2008, hasn’t won a conference since 2000, and the team keeps going thru coaches because the last decade has been terrible.

Don’t even get any local started on UNLV football. If you want to watch a struggling team watch some of those games.

And we have the Raiders now too. They used to win until about 20 years ago. That team almost never makes the playoffs anymore. I’m confident they will give us plenty of seasons with no playoffs.

To add to the point I made before, you can tell some locals never got over an undefeated UNLV team losing to Duke in the Final 4 in the early 90’s.

Would UNLV bball been winners if Chris Beard not left UNLV? Of course UNLV would not be able to keep a coach once the team started to be a winner but maybe it would be a place where up and coming coaches would like to come here and move on after taking UNLV deep into the tournament.

 

[Kimota]

The funniest thing is that a LOT of people have the Knights in their Top 3 for their favorite teams(inclu. myself), esp. with the cinderalla run going to the SCF a few years ago. But in this case I think it had to do with 1. Habs being the underdogs, 2. Franchises that are more from the South or warmer places are always considered to be Gary Bettman's pet projects which takes away the sport from tradition if you will of being Northern sport. That conflict started when the Nords and Jets lost their teams in a transfer to the south. And that frustration has continued on.

 

[Reclamation Project]

It's very simple - Vegas has had more success in their first 4 years than most teams have had in their last 15-25 years. Almost universally expected to be a bottom 3 team by the enter hockey community they shocked the world with a monster opening season. It was endearing, now it's a nightmare and people can't handle it. 4 years in and Vegas has one of the highest points percentages, three final four appearances, a Final appearance, attracted one of the best free agents in recent memory, and will be a contender next season again. Everybody hates a winner in life. The goal is to be hated.

tl;dr - who gives a shit what people think, enjoy the success, you never know when it happens again. Futility can last 10 years, 25 years, even 50 years. Vegas is close, they just need a couple tweaks and some more veteran big gamer pieces.

 

[Ginormousthumbs]

There’s definitely a difference between dislike and hate. For me, I was excited to
see the NHL finally arrive in Las Vegas.
For years I would tell friends that I thought the NHL would work here. I was looking forward to having a West coast team. Then came the team name. Didn’t like that the name of the city was shortened. Yes, I know tourists and maybe some locals refer to it as Vegas, but it didn’t sound right to me. Plus throwing in the Golden Knights….snooze city. Tack on the over saturation of color choices on the uniforms, and nothing was speaking to me. In the end I felt and still do feel that the team, including all of the production, capitalizes on the touristy aspects of the strip and doesn’t represent the entire city. If that makes any sense.
I also dislike that ticket prices are ridiculous. I had family go see the VGK in AZ during the regular season because it was cheaper than driving 30 minutes to T-Mobile. I think having hockey in Las Vegas is great. It’s exposing more people who wouldn’t have cared about it before, but knowing this city, I still worry about what a few down seasons will do and maybe that’s why T-Mobile was built were it was, which I also have a problem with.

Anyway, I thought I would provide a different take than what has already been posted.

 

[Deevo]

Sabres fan here lurking to see if you folks were discussing Eichel this morning.. I had no idea the NHL community hated you? I live in Canada and it feels like most ppl here think the Knights are fun?

 

[theslatcher]

Sabres fan here lurking to see if you folks were discussing Eichel this morning.. I had no idea the NHL community hated you? I live in Canada and it feels like most ppl here think the Knights are fun?

More the online community, also depends on where in Canada I'd guess. Manitoba(promarily Brandon) with a lot of ties to the franchise likes Vegas, I can see Quebec disliking due to wanting their team back.

 

[IndustryLeech]

• The fanbase is perceived as being ignorant of hockey
• They are perceived to get favorable officiating. In honesty they seem to hold and pick in transition a lot, and dramatically sell interference against them.
• They are perceived as being low-key dirty.
• DeBoer is perceived to be whiny (his complaints about officiating in game 2 of the Avs series being an example)

 

[Oilers in NS]

In peace
The answer I have to your blog and it’s not your fanbase”s fault, it’s the expansion committee. Many fans were mad in Canada on the sweet deal Vegas got to come into the league. They received a NHL ready defence and some quality work goaltending of other teams.
I don’t know what you will get outta Mark Stone. Seems like lots of money for a guy that didn’t do anything in playoffs. Some players on your team are getting older with expensive contracts
If Vegas slips in the standings, will the love affair with the team still exist in the upcoming years? It seems like a great spot to see a game

 

[Kaners PPGs]

I think Vegas is polarizing in that some like them because they are the flavor of the month, especially in their 1st year, but a lot of people, like myself, rooted against them in their first season since no expansion team should win a Cup that soon. I think overall a lot of the vigor on both sides has calmed down. Just being in the league longer has made people more comfortable with them and feel as if they win then they deserve it. Plus, the shiny new toy feel of Vegas is dissipating. Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Vancouver, and Chicago are all disliked more than Vegas IMO.

 

[The Real Puckhead]

Blues fan here, mad respect for what y'all have accomplished. Vegas will always have a place in my heart because they lifted the "Expansion Team Going to the Finals Curse". I wanted to see VGK get eliminated this year for several reasons.

1). This year we're in your division. I wish zero success to teams in our division once we're done. Zero.
2) DeBoer is a whiny bitch. Hated him in SJ, hate him here, hate him period.
3) The league allowed you to play with fewer players and actually canceled a game against us, to let you get around the cap. I hope the Isles pull it off tonight because I want to see Tampa lose for the same reason.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

Blues fan here, mad respect for what y'all have accomplished. Vegas will always have a place in my heart because they lifted the "Expansion Team Going to the Finals Curse". I wanted to see VGK get eliminated this year for several reasons.

1). This year we're in your division. I wish zero success to teams in our division once we're done. Zero.
2) DeBoer is a whiny bitch. Hated him in SJ, hate him here, hate him period.
3) The league allowed you to play with fewer players and actually canceled a game against us, to let you get around the cap. I hope the Isles pull it off tonight because I want to see Tampa lose for the same reason.

I hate you guys. You stole my favorite player that is not on any teams that I like and I bitched and moaned about it til you guys won the cup which validated that I was right. And for many of the years when the Avs were my one and only team I remember the Blues when Backes was the captain would beat up on the Avs all the time. Plus some of us were mad about Stasny leaving as it was rumored that he told the management his intentions by the trade deadline and if he stayed past the deadline it would be because he told the team he wouldn't leave and he did so the Avs got nothing for him. If I do root for the Blues it's only because of ROR.

 

[Paddyjack]

Sabres fan here lurking to see if you folks were discussing Eichel this morning.. I had no idea the NHL community hated you? I live in Canada and it feels like most ppl here think the Knights are fun?

Agreed, I was surprised to read that too. I mean, yeah, ok we were enemies for the past 6 games, but apart from that it seems to me that most people like Vegas and your fans. Sure there were some comments about reffing, or how much Bettman wants vegas in the finals etc, but it was not directed as hate against your team.

And I'm happy Patches is happy in Vegas

 

[Vegan Knight]

Agreed, I was surprised to read that too. I mean, yeah, ok we were enemies for the past 6 games, but apart from that it seems to me that most people like Vegas and your fans. Sure there were some comments about reffing, or how much Bettman wants vegas in the finals etc, but it was not directed as hate against your team.

And I'm happy Patches is happy in Vegas

I think it's a social media thing.

Many Vegas fans are on reddit and it's been all playoffs there's posts about hating us and most GDT comments despise us there. And when we lost yesterday there were many posts on the NHL subreddit celebrating and disparaging the team.

There was a post on the NHL subreddit that was simply, "f*** Vegas Party!" and it got the most likes and more replies than any other with people dancing on our grave.

I don't think it's coming from Montreal fans and I don't think Vegas fans are upset at them at all. Almost all seem to know we got beat by the team that played better and deserved it.

 

[DominicHABS]

I'll talk for myself, but as a long time Habs fan, I love your team and the organization (the only teams I follow regularly are the Canadiens, the Knights and the Bolts). It didn't go as planned these playoffs, but I have no doubt you guys will be back in force next season.
I was confident we would somehow find a way to beat Toronto and Winnipeg, but I honestly didn't think we had a chance to beat the powerful Golden Knights. Playoffs are playoffs, the most surprising things sometimes happen and the lesser team finds a way to win.

Be proud Vegas fans, you have a great organization

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

I think it's a social media thing.

Many Vegas fans are on reddit and it's been all playoffs there's posts about hating us and most GDT comments despise us there. And when we lost yesterday there were many posts on the NHL subreddit celebrating and disparaging the team.

There was a post on the NHL subreddit that was simply, "f*** Vegas Party!" and it got the most likes and more replies than any other with people dancing on our grave.

I don't think it's coming from Montreal fans and I don't think Vegas fans are upset at them at all. Almost all seem to know we got beat by the team that played better and deserved it.

Reddit can be terrible for a lot of things and great for things like marvel studios movie leaks GoT leaks. I guess I like leaks. The other stuff that I enjoy there can't be posted here. I prefer message board setup over reddit plus reddit users for the most part are immature kids. Maybe the vgk subreddit are annoying aholes that are poor winners

 

[Ragnarok73]

It's pretty simple really: the VGK were given favorable expansion draft rules that were revised right before they started operations by "coincidence". Anyone who thinks otherwise clearly knows little about hockey and the NHL specifically. It was easy for people to jump on the bandwagon because the expansion team went to a Cup final in its first year of existence. Thankfully they didn't win it, because that would have damaged the credibility of a sports league that has struggled to be more widely accepted in the U.S. thanks to a commissioner who would go to lengths many of us would find degrading to get more American dollars.

The real test of this team's fanbase will come when the team inevitably comes back down to earth and has to go through a rough patch for the first time since coming into the league. If the fans keep coming to VGK games through a bad period, then I'm perfectly willing to revise my opinion about the level of support they get. I think, however, that once the team starts to struggle, attendance will drop, and we will see another situation similar to the Coyotes except the VGK are more likely to move once the bottom drops out.

There is a reason that up until recently no major pro league in North America had granted Vegas a team. Sure, the Raiders are coming, but they've bounced around so many times now that it's become a joke. If Los Angeles can lose two NFL franchises (and we'll see what happens with the Rams and Chargers down the road), then a city like Vegas can certainly lose one, especially once attendance sags as the team struggles.

 

[Rebels57]

But the organization and fanbase has had it too easy so far.

 

[AaronDellForPrez]

Not going to bother to read through the thread, because the answer is pretty obvious and has probably been stated over and over again, but yes, it's because they had a ridiculous head start advantage given to them along with other numerous breaks by the league to help establish the market there, for money reasons.

They are an artificial frankenteam created out of league greed to expand and immediately succeed in expanding in a market notoriously weak in supporting professional sports teams.

Oh, and the gaudy lounge-acts they put on during pregame, in the spirit of las vegas over-the-top tackiness, along with the seemingly trump-designed gold-plated shiny helmets, just add to the overall ridiculousness of their brand.

[MOD]