Stanley Cup: Golden Knights Proved Everyone Wrong

After March 1st, No Team Was Better, It Wasn’t Close

June 20, 2023 158 3 minutes readNHL Picks & Parlays

Stanley Cup: Golden Knights 2023 Winner — ETHAN MILLER / GETTY IMAGES

It All Started With A Suggestion
Quick 2023 NHL Betting Review

We thought it was important to relive just how impressive the Vegas Golden Knights were this season, including bringing a load of cash to bettors who believed in the Knights after the trade deadline. Let’s examine how the Golden Knights became the 2023 winners, and what the future hold for the champs. After, NHL odds are already out for next season, what do the oddsmakers think are the chances that the Knights repeat as champions?

It All Started With A Suggestion

Vegas Golden Knights owner, Bill Foley, wasn’t alone in bringing the National Hockey League to Las Vegas. Former Sacramento Kings owner Joe Maloof teamed with his brothers, Gavin, George, and Phil, to suggest to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman that the league would do well in Las Vegas. Bettman has been an acquaintance of Joe Maloof, who owned the Sacramento Kings, since working with the NBA in the late ’70s. It was their lawyer’s relationship with soon-to-be partner Bill Foley that got the puck gliding toward Sin City.

There were some reports that the Maloofs were interested in bringing an NFL team to Vegas, but Foley wasn’t ready for the red tape battle that was sure to come had they walked down that path. Getting Bettman as excited about a Vegas expansion team was the next hurdle to climb.

The NHL announced that there would be a season ticket drive as a barometer to show just how interested the people of Las Vegas were in a sport that has struggled to keep its seat at the big boy table. The goal of 10,000 season deposits was exceeded and the skeptical commissioner was convinced a little further that hockey could work in the desert. MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group teamed up to build privately financed T-Mobile Arena, although it may not have been a coincidence that free parking became a thing of the past at the same time.

Shovels hit the ground on May 14th, 2014 without a guarantee that the $385 million dollar arena would have a full-time tenant. On June 22nd, 2016, Bettman announced that Las Vegas would indeed be granted an expansion franchise with the team name to be named later.

The city of Las Vegas took it from there. Even though it wasn’t until On October 6th, 2017 Vegas played its first game against the Dallas Stars, posting a 2-1 win behind Marc Andre-Fleury’s 45 saves. It was a microcosm of what was to come for a franchise that played in two Stanley Cup Final in six seasons. With the Knights down 1-0 with just over 9:00 to go, James Neal scored twice in the final ten minutes to give the Golden Knights their first win in the club’s history. That never say die attitude culture was established from day one.

This season, from March 1st on, Vegas bettors profited over 1800 units, 998 units better than the Florida Panthers in that span. Foley predicted his team would win the Stanley Cup in six seasons, and the hockey gods agreed. Let’s finish up our look at the Golden Knights 2023 Cup win, with their final betting stats.

Quick 2023 NHL Betting Review

Although Vegas cashed NHL odds tickets at a light-speed pace after March 1st (32-12, +1803 units), there were others to recognize as winners for bettors in 2023. If you just looked at NHL playoff scores, you could feel that the Golden Knights were getting stronger by the period but don’t overlook the incredible season that the Boston Bruins had for the betting public. Vegas finished the season with a profit of +1720 units, but they only were able to do that because of their playoff run.

Boston finished the regular season with an incredible 135 points, which was good enough for a profit of 1,923 units. They were by far the most profitable team in the regular season, +1072 units better than the Buffalo Sabres. Overall, favorites finished 863-539 (.616) -4528 units, and underdogs were -8541 units, showing just how difficult it is to bet on a sport involving large money lines.

Thinking about betting on the Golden Knights to repeat? Get it now because early futures have the Knights as the seventh choice at 15/1. Boston and the Colorado Avalanche are the favorites at 9/1. That does it for our Golden Knights 2023 Cup win review, we hope everyone has a terrific Summer, see you in October.