Oh I can answer this, @mojoflower! If you donât mind. Get a nice cup of tea, itâs long.
Part 1 - New Team on the Block
As you may know⌠or not.. the NHL granted a new franchise to Las Vegas, of all places. Hockey in the desert! in Sin City! Nice soft-spoken gap-toothed Canadian boys with knife shoes and murder pucks scoot-scooting and fighting on a slick surface! Itâs GREAT. They were named Vegas Golden Knights because West Point wouldnât let the owner use their own teamâs name Black Knights, which, I dunno. Good call avoiding that one because âItâs just a flesh wound!â jokes would be endemic, even more than the âWonât Make It Through The Knightâ type puns we get now from the VGK Twitter. I digress. They also dropped the Las out of Vegas because the name would have been stupid long.
How does one fill up the roster of a new team so they can win some games and their spirits remained unbowed? So fans will watch, because they can see the Knights are building the team up towards greatness? So the franchise will thrive and prosper? And not fold and leave town? I dunno, guess we need some flashy rookies and experienced veterans. How do we get those, you ask? Why, by STEALING*, of course!Â
(*This is according to a bitter bitter fan who shouted at me on Twitter like a lunatic bitch that Vegas stole her teamâs goalie. His name is Marc-Andre Fleury. We will be getting to him in a bit. Hang on.)
For new teams, there is an Expansion Draft. This is different from normal sports drafting, where teams recruit new talent, otherwise known as the lowest of the low, The Rookie. An Expansion Draft is where the newest franchise holder can choose players that are already with a team. Seasoned players. Proven talent, i.e. STEALING because the NHL totally doesnât have any rules to stop the Knights from grabbing your Gretzky, right?
Except itâs not theft, really. (Except to fans who are still shedding tears over favorites that were sacrificed to fates worse than death in the desert.) There are regs which I wonât get into, except to say that each team could protect a certain number of players (star talent, mostly,) and other players had protections already in their contracts (no-trade or no-movement clauses). Vegas didnât get to pick the cream of the crop, oh no. They got one player per team, probably mid to low tier talent. Except in the case of Marc-Andre Fleury. Flower. Goalie and hockey superstar, three time Stanley Cup champion.
Ah, Flower.
Let me explain about Flower, for that is his true name.
Part 2 - The Flower in the Desert
Imagine. It is 2003. You are a goalie - a singular creature apart from the team, the last bastion, the Guardian of the Net. Goalies have the toughest time getting into the NHL - thereâs only three per team, as opposed to the other positions. And here you are, a tall gangling teen with a heavy accent, an enormous charming toothy grin and a face designed in a wind tunnel, fresh out of Quebec. And when the normal draft comes around, you⌠you are picked FIRST. This⌠hardly ever happens to goalies. In fact, you are only the third goalie to have been picked first ever! In NHL history! But Mario Lemieux (MARIO LEMIEUX!!!) thinks youâve got the stuff. And you join the Pittsburgh Penguins and you do have what it takes. In 5 years, the Pens win a Stanley Cup.Â
Twelve years after you were drafted, things are looking very good for the playoff run. But thereâs a new backup goaltender, younger, who is All About Eve wanting your place as the Penâs main starter goalie, and suddenly youâre injured, and - it happens. He takes over the net in the playoff run. The Penguins win. You lift the Cup a second time, though you feel as if you did not do enough to help them win it.
Thirteen years with the team, and now the new guy is in your spot on the ice most of the season. You suck it up, you mentor him and you watch the games in your pads, waiting. Waiting. He gets injured, and once again you take up your helm to guard the goal. Itâs the playoffs, and you are brilliant. Until⌠again, the slightest falter, a bad game and your replacement is all healed up now. From the bench you watch the Pens beat the Preds. You join your team on the ice as they scream in joy and lift the Cup a third time.
It is bittersweet.
The writingâs on the wall. You are never going to be the Pensâ main goalie again. The Flower has been supplanted. And now⌠itâs the Expansion Draft. Vegas need a few star talents. But Pittsburgh has been home for so, so long. You tell yourself you are lucky - not every player gets to stay with a team so long. But youâre only 32. Replaced by a 22 yr old. You donât want to warm the bench and let your skills grow stale - you can still be a teamâs main goalie. Thereâs life in you yet! And though you have a no-movement protection clause in your contract, you make the hard choice. You let the Penguins waive it. They are happy to do so, very happy. But they are not entirely unkind. In exchange for leaving you exposed for the expansion draft, the Pens sweeten the pot to ensure the Flower will be plucked and be a starting goalie again. They throw in some future draft picks and money to guarantee Vegas takes you on. You know whatâs they are thinking, though. Management doesnât want your reproachful face on the bench. They want the hot new talent in net, not you. More importantly, they donât want to pay your huge hockey-starâs salary anymore. They want fresh (cheaper) talent, and giving you up will ensure they can get it.
The bait works. Once again, you are a first pick. A goalie, the base of the team. Vegas is thrilled to have you. You are a legend in the League. And maybe your heart hurts and the smile is a bit forced. But the chant from these new fans-to-be when they begin the chant during the Draft of, âFleury! Fleury! FLEURY!â helps a bit.
And with the sheen of tears in your eyes, you give your exit interviews in Pittsburgh. You pack your gear in the changing room for the last time. You say goodbye to the organization that has kept you for 13 seasons, the arena that housed your dreams and triumphs. You take the Stanley Cup to your hometown in Quebec, probably for the last time. You start looking for a new house in Las Vegas and ponder the painful process of pulling up roots, leaving friends behind.
You face facts. Itâs going to suck - an expansion team doesnât have the experience or depth of talent to win a lot, and youâll be facing far too many shots and losing too many games. But you are leaving on your own terms, for the betterment of your career and your soul. So. The Penguins donât want you? Okay.
Better to be a starter in Hell than a back-up in Heaven.
Flowers in the desert are tough. And they can thrive.
(Fare thee well, Pittsburgh, but not too well, because youâll be facing your old friends and teammates as opponents soon enough. You gave no quarter to old teammates before, and you expect no mercy in return.)
Part 3 - The Long and Winding Road (takes me to the NHL)
French-born Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was told when he was 19 to give up any hope of playing in the NHL. After all, a mere nine French players have managed to cross the pond to a career here. And the General Manager didnât think he had what it took. What does one does do in the face of such blank discouragement? Well. One packs up their fucking gear bags at the age of 21, makes a fart noise and a rude gesture at France and leaves for the Swedish pro leagues where one can actually learn and be challenged. And there, one develops their skills. For seven years, like a hockey-version montage from Rocky or similar. Until one day,  an NHL scout sees something that idiot GM didnât see. (The fortitude of a bi-racial player in a mostly white game? The same grit and determination that took Pierreâs gymnast sister to the Beijing Olympics, perhaps?)
And so, at the age of twenty-nine, when many would have given up, Pierre-Edouardâs dream came true. He was signed, and took up the mantle of orange and black. He was going to play alongside the stars of the NHL.Â
He might have known what he was getting into, joining the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Or not.
Anyway, Pierre-Edouard is a good man. He plays for the French national team when they need him. Thereâs no question of it - against the honor of playing for France, the words of his former French GM are nothing.Â
(And at the last World Cup, Bellmare was set to receive the Player of the Game prize for his goal and assist in Franceâs win over Finland. In an act of pure selflessness and respect, he waived acceptance of the award, saying it deserved to go to the French teamâs goalie, Florian Hardy, who had 42 saves. Pure class.)
Pierre-Edouard is so well-respected for what he brings to the Flyers that he in fact is made an assistant captain. Take that, old GM. Pbbbttt.
Now, that Romeo and Juliet thingâŚ
Part 4 - The Battle of Pennsylvania
âTwo teams, both alike in popularityâŚâ
Once upon a time (in 1967), two teams were born in the cradle of the Eastern Division. In happier stories, they wouldâve been brothers in arms, both being from the state of Pennsylvania. However, this a sports story, and if they are brothers, it is of the Cain and Abel variety. Blood on the ice and murder in their hearts sort of thing. Pennsylvania is pretty much divided down the middle supporting their respective teams. The virulence is such that fans single out hated players to scream at, and fight each other in the stands. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said of the Flyers after a tense match-up, âI donât like them, because I donât like any guy on their team, so.â
Fans thrive on the rivalry - it is considered the most intense in the League, so good luck getting tickets for those games. Being in the same division, they often face each other in the playoffs, so you can imagine the fun there. In 2012, Crosby fractured Flyers captain Claude Girouxâs wrists by slashing at them during face-offs, so obviously it gets to the players as well. The Flyers drummed the Pens out of the playoffs that year, but fell short of winning the Cup. Giroux had surgery on both wrists. Crosby refused to acknowledge or apologize for his actions, because hey. It was the playoffs.Â
This is how you grow a rivalry - you feed and water it carefully with violence and disrespect. You give in to the illogical insanity of it all.
These teams fucking hate each other.
Into the bloody war of the Keystone state came Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguin. Much later, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare arrived, new Philadelphia Flyer.
âTwo players, both alike in ageâŚâ
It is October 22nd, 2014. It is Pierre-Edouardâs first year in the NHL, though he is too old to be considered a rookie. He is a fourth-liner with heart. He is in PPG Arena, in front of the most hostile crowd he will ever face in the NHL. He is driving towards the Penguinâs net, head up. The pass comes hard. With a flick, he deflects it past the goalie and into the net.
It is his first goal in the NHL.
The goalie is Marc-Andre Fleury.
Part 5 - Two Frenchmen are Knighted
And thus the story comes full circle from where I started.
Who really knows what it was like for Pierre-Edouard, being left exposed in the draft for Vegas? Heâs not a star player like Fleury, so there arenât many interviews with him, aside from the rote, âpleased and happy to be moving to a new team, thank you Philadelphia for your support!â We do know how Flower felt - heart-broken, nervous about joining his first new team in years. We watched his anguish in live interviews, heard the husky tone of his voice.
And now, what do we know?
What we see is that the Knights are pulling together, building a team to make their futures shine as bright as the lights on the Strip. Theyâve had some wins in the pre-season. Some losses. Growing pains are expected.
But⌠I think the Vegas Golden Knights will be fine.
We can imagine that Flower is very happy to have another teammate to speak French with. Iâd guess thereâs probably a lot of chirping regarding Quebecois French, but good-natured. Perhaps there are already jokes in the locker room about French Knights, insults about hamsters and elderberries and silly English K-nig-its.
I know Flower is being taken care of.
Teams rally around their goaltenders. If you want a fight, fuck with your opponentâs goalie. The gloves will come off for you so fast they may as well be greased. Watch a team before a game begins. The players will often stick-tap their goalieâs pads. Post-game, the goalie will get either commiseration or congratulations - helmet rubs, taps, and hugs. Hockey players are tactile creatures, and the goalie is their luck.
What is like for any of these Golden Knights, pulled together from all parts of the hockey empire - some of them, like Flower and Bellemare, from bitter rival teams?
Itâs hockey. Itâs fellowship. And caring.
These are not enemy players, not anymore. They are team. Born from the hatred of Flyers/Penguins comes the gif far above. In that game, the Knights lost 5-3 to the San Jose Sharks. Fleury needed a bit of comfort after a goal was scored on him. Bellemare was there.
One superstar Quebecois goalie, considered a salary liability and an aging has-been by his old team. One unlikely French forward of the same age who knows that itâs never too late to make a fresh start and achieve great things.Â
I, for one, look forward to watching them play.
Good Flower, you doubt yourself too much,
Your teammate has your back in this,
For games, lost or won, our goalie we clutch,
And pad to pad is Golden Knightsâ kiss.