Golden Knights superstar Jack Eichel has been worth his weight in gold this season. Through 20 games the top-line center leads his team with 23 assists and 29 points. In Ottawa on Thursday, Eichel collected his 6th goal of the season, only four back from team leader Pavel Dorofeyev. The fourth-year Golden Knight has been sensational for the Pacific Division’s 1st place team. There’s no reason to believe his superb season will not continue.
Recently, Eichel sat down with former NHL’er Colby Armstrong to discuss the open disgust for VGK across the league. It’s been a while since the Golden Knights were widely welcomed to other team’s barns. Now, not so much. Apparently, the fresh paint faded after the Golden Knights hoisted the Stanley Cup and hockey fans now detest the sixth most-winning team since 2017-18.
According to Eichel, he doesn’t mind the hate. You can see him and his teammates embrace the animosity.
I feel like there’s a lot of hate towards us. I am not sure where it started or why it started. If you want to hate us, go ahead. I don’t know when that happened. People hate a winner, I guess. It might be a little jealousy. –Jack Eichel on Sportnet
While Eichel played coy about when and why the outpouring of hatred began, Armstrong hinted it was the LTIR usage that began in 2021. Of course, Golden Knights know the truth but NHL fans everywhere else refuse to accept the Golden Knights aggressive but legal actions.
They were like the lovable Knights, like yay these kinds of misfits. You guys are like the bad boys of hockey now. I feel like everyone is like ‘what’s up with the Knights?’ and shits on you guys now. It’s crazy how it just flipped though… Because you guys won. I think the cap stuff, because people got into that. –Colby Armstrong on Sportsnet
Eichel did admit that the salary cap gymnastics could have played a part in VGK’s transition from the new kid on the block to the neighborhood bully. No matter what the reasons are, the star center, nor his teammates have a problem being the heel of the Western Conference.
The face of the franchise has taken on the same mindset as captain Mark Stone and alternate captain Alex Pietrangelo. Both have expressed over the past handful of seasons that they had observed the disrespect and hostility from other clubs and fan bases. Fortunately, it doesn’t impact how the team performs. In fact, the strong dislike for the organization likely benefits Vegas.
As fans have witnessed, playing the villain can come with rewards. Those shiny, ultra-valuable championship rings on the Golden Knights fingers are just one that comes to mind.
