The Golden Knights World According To Foley
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
I was in the lobby of the Vegas Golden Knights’ training center in Summerlin after a VGK GM George McPhee press conference that I could barely hear when I saw a familiar face Wednesday afternoon.
It was Bill Foley’s face on a TV screen. His mug shot was on the NHL Network, which was playing on a screen on a wall behind the customer counter around 3 p.m.
So, I asked the young woman behind the counter to pump the volume so I could hear Foley chat about the team’s unprecedented first-year expansion team success. (I wish she could have pumped up the volume of McPhee’s voice at the press conference at 2 p.m.)
Here were LVSportsBiz.com five takeaways from Foley’s chat. (The Golden Knights swept the Los Angeles Kings in four games in Round One and now play the San Jose Sharks in Round Two of the Stanley Cup playoffs.)
Number 1: Foley said when he first interviewed George McPhee for the Golden Knights GM job, it took only 20 minutes of chatting to realize McPhee was the man for the position, explaining that he and McPhee have similar characteristics. (Except for the fact that Foley talks much louder publicly than McPhee). Foley said McPhee, the former Washington Capitals GM who last worked for the Caps in 2014, was hungry to be a GM again. What’s interesting is that even though Foley is the U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate, it’s the square-jawed McPhee who comes off as the unwavering West Point graduate. (McPhee was a premier college hockey player at Bowling Green.)
Number 2: Foley has often said said his goal was playoffs in three years and Stanley Cup in six years. But Foley noted he had early conversations with two veteran players who were snapped up in the expansion draft by the Golden Knights that offered different perspectives on his three and six mantra. Foley said he chatted with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who, according to the owner, explained, “Why wait? I’m getting older. We can’t wait.” Foley said he also conversed with veteran James Neal and recalled Neal telling him, “We’re making the playoffs.” Turned out Neal was correct.
Number 3: Foley has changed his perspectives and expectations. Here’s how: “They have exceeded my expectations. Now I expect a lot.”
Number 4: Foley said he has fallen back on his West Point roots on shaping the criteria for a Golden Knights player. Foley wanted a “warrior class” player with no ego and who was low maintenance. And he likened his relationship to McPhee and McPhee’s relationship to coach Gerard Gallant and Gallant’s relationship to the players as a battalion/company/platoon Army hierarchy.
Number 5: The young woman who was among the two NHL Network hosts asking Foley questions said she heard that Foley was into wineries and inquired when a Golden Knights wine would come out. “Already exists,” Foley told the young woman, who responded, “Feel free to send a bottle.”
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