Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
If you’ve been watching the Golden Knights taking a serious run at the 2026 Stanley Cup, you may notice how different this Vegas team is in comparison to the Rangers. To wit:
1. HATE: Unofficially the Knights have been knighted as “The Most Hated Sports Team in America. (How can anyone hate a team as the current bottom feeding Rangers? Pity is more like it.)
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2. A GENUINE ‘CHARACTER’ COACH: After his Vegas guys knocked Anaheim out of their second round playoff series, bench boss John Tortorella ignored a serious league rule and did not show up for the post game media session. This despite the fact that his team WON the series, for crying out loud. (But that’s “Us against the world” philosophy that wins for Vegas.)
3. PENALTY: The league fined Torts and added further punishment; had to give up a second-round draft pick. (The way the Knights win-at-all-costs philosophy works, the punishment is small potatoes.)
4. CASTING AWAY CASSIDY: After firing coach Bruce Cassidy late in the season, the Knights’ high command has refused to allow Cassidy to apply for another coaching job; elsewhere. (Now you know why Vegas IS the most hated team in hockey. The upright Rangers never would do such a thing.)
5. MAKING IT WITH MITCH MARNER: While 31 out of 32 NHL would have loved to have signed the former Maple Leaf superstar it was Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon who nailed Marner without even exhaling. (The New York offense could use a Marner type.)
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“Those Vegas guys love being hated,” says The Old Scout, “and I suspect that they take pride in it. This has become their image. In fact the players and management are well aware of it. I guarantee that it helps motivate them into winners.”
If you don’t think that “Hating Vegas” helps them win more, just check the playoff standings. You have to wonder if the Rangers ever could become a target of such venom.
Well it once did happen to one of them.
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