Few expansion teams in sports history have had the immediate success of the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
However, when it comes to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, it cannot be overstated just how absurd their run has been as an expansion team.
On Monday night, the Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead over the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, putting them two wins away from the Western Conference Finals. A conference final berth would be just the latest in a series of "firsts"—like the first expansion team since 1980 to make the playoffs, first true expansion team to win its division in its inaugural season, and first team in NHL history to sweep its first playoff series, knocking out the two-time Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings. The Knights aren't just a fun, underdog team clawing their way to a potentially historic Stanley Cup berth. They've been dominant from opening night, starting the season 8-1 before finishing with 51 wins, seven more than the next closest team in their division. After starting the season with 200/1 odds to win the Cup, the Golden Knights are now the co-favorites.
Has a team in any of the four major sports had this much success, this quickly? The simple answer is no, because no team has been this good in its inaugural season. Even if Vegas doesn't go on to win the Cup, it still will hold up as the greatest first season for an expansion team ever. For context, we looked back at the inaugural seasons of other expansion franchises that did have early success, but needed a few more years than Vegas to find it.
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