Golden Knights Control Their Playoff Fate — With or Without Lehner; DeBoer Denies National Report That Lehner Faces Season-Ending Surgery
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Back in the day before the Vegas Golden Knights were born, a guy named Bill Foley was trying to get Las Vegas locals to plunk down deposits in 2014 for season tickets for a team that didn’t exist in the National Hockey League. Foley was a friendly fella who was easily accessible by text and face-to-face interview and the local media was the megaphone for Foley’s hopes of the first major league sports team in Las Vegas.
These days, Foley’s Vegas Golden Knights are a five-year-old NHL franchise and it’s hard to figure out what the hell is going on sometimes with this team.
Like this morning when an ESPN news report saying Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner was going to have season-ending surgery was news to head coach Pete DeBoer, who informed local reporters today at the VGK practice center that Lehner missed practice because it was “a maintenance day” and that he expected the netminder to be dressed for Sunday’s last home game against San Jose.
DeBoer sounded surprised when a reporter asked him about the national report that Lehner’s season was over because of a lower-body injury. DeBoer denied it. “Not to my knowledge,” DeBoer said of Lehner being out and getting surgery. “It’s not a play issue.”
Earlier this week before the Lehner surgery story broke, DeBoer used the terms, “healthy,” and “fresh,” to describe Lehner’s start against the Capitals.
This all coming after DeBoer pulled Lehner after one period in Wednesday’s Golden Knights’ 4-3 overtime comeback win over Washington. Logan Thompson relieved Lehner and is expected to be in the net Sunday when the Knights host the San Jose Sharks in their final home game of what has turned out to be quite a wacky, crazy and inconsistent season for the VGK.
Despite it all, the Knights are actually the master of their playoff destiny with four games to go.
If the Golden Knights win all four, they will qualify even though today they sit two points behind Dallas. The Knights and Dallas play each other in Texas Tuesday before Vegas goes to Chicago Wednesday and St. Louis Friday to finish the season.
After DeBoer said he was not aware of Lehner’s surgery, he noted, “The guys are excited . . . I wouldn’t bet against them.”
Jonathan Marchessault showed up to field questions and noted the “Game 7 mentality” marking every VGK game at this point: “We put ourselves into this position.”
But the feisty Marchessault noted the fans around the NHL are not feeling sorry about the Golden Knights’ plight.
“We’re not the most appreciated team by the other fans,” Marchy told reporters.
LVSportsBiz.com will be at Sunday’s Vegas vs San Jose game with photographer J. Tyge O’Donnell. Look for our coverage and photos on social media during the game.
PSA
