Congratulating the Vegas Golden Knights for winning the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals.

Whereas on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers 9 to 3 in Game 5 of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 1; Whereas the Vegas Golden Knights are the first major men’s professional sports franchise to represent Las Vegas; Whereas the Golden Knights have been a uniting force for Southern Nevada since their founding, playing their first home game just 9 days after the October 1 shooting where they retired number 58 in honor of the 58 victims of the shooting; Whereas in their first 6 seasons in Las Vegas, the organization has already developed a strong tradition of success, qualifying for the playoffs five times, and reaching the Stanley Cup Finals twice; Whereas President of Hockey Operations George McPhee, General Manager Kelly McCrimmon, and Head Coach Bruce Cassidy built a talented team led on the ice by team captain Mark Stone; Whereas on the way to winning the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, the Golden Knights defeated— (1) the Winnipeg Jets in the first round; (2) the Edmonton Oilers in the second round; (3) the Dallas Stars in Western Conference Final; and (4) the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final; Whereas the Golden Knights secured first place in the Pacific Division and Western Conference with a record of 51–22 and 111 points in the regular season; Whereas every member of the 2023 Golden Knights contributed to this championship season, including: Michael Amadio, Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger, Laurent Brossoit, William Carrier, Paul Cotter, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel, Byron Froese, Nicolas Hague, Adin Hill, Brett Howden, Ben Hutton, William Karlsson, Phil Kessel, Keegan Kolesar, Kaedan Korczak, Jake Leschyshyn, Jonathan Marchessault, Alec Martinez, Brayden McNabb, Danil Miromanov, Brayden Pachal, Jiri Patera, Alex Pietrangelo, Jonathan Quick, Sheldon Rempal, Jonas Rondbjerg, Nicolas Roy, Reilly Smith, Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore, Logan Thompson, Shea Weber, and Zach Whitecloud. Whereas Jonathan Marchessault was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the best player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs; Whereas Head Coach Bruce Cassidy, Forward Chandler Stephenson, and Goalie Logan Thompson represented the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game; Whereas players Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlson, Reilly Smith, William Carrier, Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb have been with the Golden Knights since their first season; Whereas owners Bill Foley and the Maloof family have invested significantly into hockey in Southern Nevada by bringing the Silver Knights to Henderson, a state-of-the-art practice facility to Summerlin, and the Vegas Junior Golden Knights to the Las Vegas Valley; Whereas the Golden Knights have positively contributed to our community through the Golden Knights Foundation that supports initiatives focusing on education & youth sports, military & first responders, and health & wellness; Whereas the Golden Knights have turned the Fortress at T-Mobile Arena into the best venue in US hockey, delivering a world-class, only in Las Vegas experience for fans and the best home-field advantage in the NHL; Whereas the entire Vegas Golden Knights organization and its fans have proven that Las Vegas is a hockey town, despite Nate Silver’s April 22, 2015 article entitled, Las Vegas Is a Terrible Place for an NHL Team That the House of Representatives congratulates and honors the Vegas Golden Knights on their 2023 National Hockey League Stanley Cup championship.

Summary: This resolution congratulates the Vegas Golden Knights on their 2023 National Hockey League Stanley Cup championship.