In Over-The-Top, Hype-Peddling Las Vegas, Golden Knights GM George McPhee Provides Grounded Personality
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The last time Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee spoke to the media, the intense yet reflective GM spoke so softly that he could hardly be heard.
But Monday at 1 p.m., less than a day after the Cinderella Knights vanquished the San Jose Sharks to claim a spot in the Western Conference Final, McPhee was at the VGK training center in Summerlin and stood before a microphone linked to a sound system that gave sports media folks an amplified road map to the workings of McPhee’s mind.
Owner Bill Foley is the West Point graduate. But I covered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point overlooking the Hudson River as a young reporter and I’m here to tell you the square-jawed McPhee could easily come off as a member of the Long Gray Line.
McPhee is the perfect personality to balance manic Las Vegas’ over-the-top glitz and schmaltzy entertainment syle because the cliche inventors who came up with the “still waters run deep” line probably just had a chat with the 59-year-old Ontario, Canada native.
While an emotionally-wired Southern Nevada was trying to come off its adrenaline bender after the VGK’s series-clinching 3-0 win Sunday evening and could not get to sleep, McPhee Monday stood behind the lectern like a college professor in a good mood and provided answers that were thoughtful and even tinged with some humor (superstitions, just in case). In a world of sports cliches, McPhee offered a breath of steady and fresh candor Monday as Golden Knights crazed mania sweeps this market of 2.2 million.
His hockey cyborg persona was only enhanced by the Golden Knights’ nobody-saw-it-coming success. McPhee’s first-year crop of blossoming players (Alex Tuch, Shea Theodore), young emerging stars (William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Erik Haula), crafty veterans (Marc-Andre Fleury, James Neal, Deryk Engelland) and tough two-way players (Cory Eakin, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) gelled into a division-winning team and realized unprecedented success for a first-year major league sports team.
McPhee said he doesn’t feel emotional about winning the first two playoff rounds with a sweep of the Los Angeles Kings and a 4-2 second round series win over the Sharks.
“For me it doesn’t mean anything — yet,” said McPhee, a former premier college hockey player (Bowling Green) and ex-NHLer (Rangers, Devils) who had a lengthy stint as the Washington Capitals GM (1997-2014) before working with the Islanders (2015-16.)
I asked him about hanging out with Golden Knights owner Bill Foley in the team suite during home games at T-Mobile Arena and how Foley has advanced in his knowledge of the sport.
McPhee explained that he typically sits alone in analytical mode to avoid distractions while watching his teams play. But he mentioned that he and Assistant General Manager Kelly McCrimmon have explained what they’re seeing on the ice to Foley and that it’s been a “good education for him.”
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In turn, McPhee said he has learned a few things about Foley.
For example, McPhee said he “learned how competitive he is and the pressures he feels as the owner.” Foley, McPhee said, sees the 18,000 plus fans in the arena and “wants to deliver and there’s some pressure with that.”
McPhee also offered thoughts on a few other items:
On company culture. “Culture is important. Different companies have different cultures and you feel it when you walk in the door.”
On gregarious defenseman Nate Schmidt. “He was quiet as a church mouse (when he signed in Washington as an undrafted free agent.) Now, he’s comfortable in his own skin and he’s not so quiet. He’s talkative in a good way.”
On Foley. “He’s very decisive. The first instinct is the best.” McPhee said he explained to Foley that he had a lot of knowledge that could help an expansion team.
“I tried to make my case.”
McPhee delivered.
The Golden Knights will play the winner of the Nashville Predators-Winnipeg Jets series in the conference final. The Jets lead the Preds, three games to two, in the conference semi-final, and the two teams play Monday night.
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