Travis Green called the Vegas Golden Knights a popular choice twice during his 10-minute press conference on Saturday to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.
It was more than the Vancouver Canucks coach who showed respect for the next opponent.
This sounded like Green was arithmetically speaking as an outsider in the Best-of-7 series of the Western Conference Second Round, which will be held on Sunday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the hub of the West, enters game 1. SN, TVAS).
“Back at the beginning of the season when we met as a team and had an open dialogue, I don’t think anyone picked us to do it.” [Stanley Cup] Playoffs, but in our locker room we felt we were able to play the playoffs, “said Green.” Faith started there. But of course you have to go out and play and prove how the season went on. We did that slowly. I like our game now and I can tell you that we believed in ourselves yesterday and we believe in ourselves today. “
Number 5 in the west, Vancouver loves bubble life as an outsider, thriving with few outside expectations and the ability to take out some of the giants of the NHL, whose beliefs and confidence grows with each win.
The Canucks eliminated the St. Louis Blues in six games in the first round, beating the defending Stanley Cup champions, who had the best percentage in the West in the regular season (0.662), with a 6-2 win on Friday.
Now they can try to beat the number 1 Golden Knights, the number 1 in the West, who stand 7-1 in the postseason after winning their three games in the round robin portion of the Stanley Cup qualifiers. and reached the Stanley Cup final two years ago.
The Canucks’ approach to the Golden Knights will be the same as it is to the Blues.
“You want to prove the opposite to the people,” said the Vancouver captain Bo Horvat said. “A lot of what drives people is proving that people are wrong and proving to themselves that they can. I think we’ve done a good job so far. We have great confidence in the group that is moving forward here. Of course, we I know we’re going to play a really good ice hockey team. We just played a really good ice hockey team. “
The Canucks are a really good ice hockey team. That is the point. You won’t win six games against the Blues and score nine of the last eleven goals in the series if you don’t.
Video: VAN @ STL, Gm2: Horvat dismantles the defense for SHG
“I think it gives our group a lot of confidence to know that we can beat a team like this,” Horvat said of the Blues. “They are the defending champions of the Cup. They know what it takes to go all the way and for us to play as well as we do and shoot them obviously feels really good. But there is a long way to go . ” We still have a lot of games to win here. “
Note that he didn’t say there were many games to play here. He used the word win. This is an example of Vancouver’s faith.
“This team is a special and dangerous team,” Canucks says Jay Beagle said.
It’s a team that has already proven a lot this postseason, especially considering the Canucks started with 10 players who had no NHL postseason experience. They demonstrated their resilience to the blues by winning games 5 and 6 after losing games 3 and 4.
Jacob MarkstromThe 30-year-old in his first NHL postseason is already 7: 3 with 2.44 goals against the average and a saving of 0.929 percent.
“It’s so much fun playing hockey now,” said Markstrom. “We still have a long way to go before anyone is satisfied, but it’s certainly a good feeling and a stepping stone, but we still have a few steps to take.”
The Canucks have proven their depth rating is strong. They fielded 20 skaters against the Blues and had 10 goalscorers, including five players with at least two goals and three players with a game-winning goal (defenders) Troy engraver had two) and 14 players with at least two points.
“Every team has players who score more goals, get more exposure, get more profile and make more money,” said Green. “That’s sport. But when it comes to winning, teams that understand well what it takes for everyone to contribute in one way or another. Of course, the goal is an opportunity to contribute. A lot.” Often times in playoff hockey you will see that there will be posts throughout your lineup. We did it in the last few games. “
You will need more to keep winning and to prove that people are wrong because, as Green has mentioned a few times, the Golden Knights are a favorite to at least reach the final.
“You are number 1 on this site, so we have our hands full,” said Green, “but we are ready.”
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