The Vegas Golden Knights captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history when they defeated the Florida Panthers in five games earlier in June. As with any title, a massive championship parade ensued — and with it some stellar (and intoxicated) moments.
The Golden Knights held their Stanley Cup celebration on Saturday, and it was no different. Here are a few of the best moments from the celebration.
Karlsson delivers epic speech
Golden Knights forward William Karlsson provided the highlight of the night, as he delivered a poignant, expletive-filled speech that really got the team’s fanbase in attendance riled up.
“This guy, this effin guy, has been here since Day 1. And you have been here — Day f—ing 1. You guys are so amazing,” a shirtless Karlsson said when talking about teammate Jonathan Marchessault. “We played in Arizona the first game. We beat the s–t out of them. And I had no points, but that’s OK, because Year One, I was pretty f—ing great, but you guys were greater. We’ve been on this journey … we’ve been waiting six long years for this guy to be MVP.”
Eventually, the microphone was taken away from Karlsson, but not before he gave some more expletive-filled comments about how much he loves his teammates. You can check out his entire speech here.
Marchessault won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL’s playoff MVP following the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights star finished the 2023 postseason with 25 points, which was second on the team behind only Jack Eichel. Marchessault led Vegas with 13 goals during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hill does his best Ricky Bobby impression
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill also proved to be one of the stars of the show during the team’s championship parade. Hill delivered a hilarious interview in which he impersonated Will Ferrell’s iconic Ricky Bobby character from the movie “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”
“Pretty wild, I don’t know. I don’t know what to do with my hands right now,” Hill said while he was interviewed.
Hill did know what to do with both his blocker and glove hands throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After replacing Laurent Brossoit during the team’s second round series against the Edmonton Oilers, Hill tallied a 11-4-0 record to go along with a 2.17 goals-against-average and a .932 save percentage.
Cassidy talks about a repeat
Vegas fans repeatedly chanted “Bruce” while Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy was at the podium during the celebration. Cassidy ended up getting fired up and egged on the crowd as they also chanted “Back to Back.”
Cassidy won a Stanley Cup in his first season as the Golden Knights head coach after parting ways with the Boston Bruins following the 2021-22 season. The 58-year-old head coach was finally able to capture the Stanley Cup that alluded him after coming close to winning it all in 2011 with Boston.
It certainly will be a tough challenge to repeat. After all, only 16 teams have repeated as Stanley Cup champions with the Tampa Bay Lightning being the most recent in 2020 and 2021.
