from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,

A reporter asked goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury about how everything had come together, how they had great players like Fleury and center William Karlsson and forward Jonathan Marchessault.

Great players?

Fleury smiled.

"I don't know if anybody would have said that in September, right?" Fleury said.

No one would have. It's tempting now to rewrite history and say the Golden Knights had more advantages than they did, that they were given all these great players and that this isn't completely, utterly, magically ridiculous.

But think back to training camp. Even though they had rules more favorable than to past teams in the NHL Expansion Draft, they acquired players deemed expendable by their former teams. Be honest. How good did you think they would be? Did you think they would make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, let alone win two rounds?

"Maybe a little bit of a long shot, you know?" Fleury said. "But here we are."

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