ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Kelly McCrimmon knew Zach Whitecloud from his Brandon Wheat Kings days when Whitecloud was just a young kid, so it was tough for the VGK general manager to say goodbye to Whitecloud, the steady eight-year defenseman for the Vegas Golden Knights.
But business is business and Trader Kelly packaged the humble and popular Whitecloud, prospect Abram Wiebe, a conditional 2027 first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Entry Draft for Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Calgary will retain 50 percent of Andersson’s salary.
Andersson is still working through immigration issues and did not play in today’s 5 PM game between the VGK and Philadelphia Flyers. The VGK saw their seven-game win streak snapped with the Flyers’ 2-1 win.
LVSportsBiz.com photographed Whitecloud playing his final game for the Golden Knights Saturday when Vegas blasted the Nashville Predators, 7-2.
LVSportsBiz.com asked McCrimmon during his pre-game presser on the Andersson trade about his relationship with Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley that allows him to make his blockbuster trades that have brought players like Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin and Mitch Marner to Las Vegas.
McCrimmon said Foley has never said no to a trade or player acquisition.
“He’s aggressive and wants to win,” McCrimmon said of Foley, who owns 100 percent of the NHL team born in the 2017-18 season.
VGK fans like Foley’s aggressive player acquisition style:
With the addition of Andersson, VGK gets a player who is a “playmaker,” McCrimmon said. He said Andersson is a playmaker defenseman like Hanifin or original Misfit Shea Theodore.
Andersson is in the final year of an expiring contract.
McCrimmon was happy with the VGK seven-game win streak and he’s looking for Vegas to win Monday on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Kids Day at the arena to set the tone for a solid road trip to Boston, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal before the VGK return to Las Vegas for a showdown with the Dallas Stars Jan. 29.
The Flyer jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the Knights on a breakaway goal by winger Travis Konecny.
The Knights had their chances. The team with one of the NHL’s best power play units was only able to convert one of seven power play chances.
“We didn’t play well enough,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy at his postgame presser. The execution on the power play was just not there, he said.
Vegas tied the game on the power play late in the second period on nifty passes by Stone and Eichel to set up Tomas Hertl for the equalizer with only 34 seconds left in the middle stanza.
But the VGK could not close the deal in the third period when Philly’s Konecny scored again on a breakaway to give the Flyers a 2-1 win.
PSA
Buy this book to support LVSportsBiz.com
*