Knights have strong Manitoba connections

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This article was published 03/01/2022 (1675 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS — Kelly McCrimmon isn’t afraid to admit it. He’s definitely got a type.

And when it comes to building what he hopes will soon become a Stanley Cup winner here in the desert, the general manager of the Vegas Golden Knights has done plenty of scouting and shopping in his old stomping grounds. The end result is a team bursting at the seams with Manitoba-born and raised players the likes of which we’ve rarely, if ever, seen at hockey’s highest level.

Consider this: Zach Whitecloud, Keegan Kolesar, Nolan Patrick and Brett Howden were among the 20 players who took the ice Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena against the Winnipeg Jets. All four call the Keystone Province home (Howden was born in Calgary but raised in Oakbank). Winnipeggers Mark Stone (injured) and Adam Brooks (healthy scratch) make it six locals in Sin City right now. I dare say there’s likely never been an NHL team potentially roll out a lineup with one-third of its skaters being from our little neck of the woods.

“Yeah, we’ve got our tentacles in there,” McCrimmon told me with a chuckle in a one-on-one chat this weekend. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Neither was it a focal point that we needed a certain number of Manitoba players. I think what happened is it comes down to a real a real familiarity with a lot of those names. We’ve had our share, and you know, there’s even more when you look at the guys that have come through the organization.”

No kidding. Ryan Reaves (now with the New York Rangers), Cody Eakin (now in Buffalo), Cody Glass (first-ever Vegas draft pick, now with Nashville) and Brendan Leipsic (now in the KHL) have made previous pit stops in the Strip.

And it goes beyond the ice, too. Flin Flon’s Vaughn Karpan is the current director of player personnel. Former Bisons player turned Bisons and Wheat Kings coach Bob Lowes is the assistant director. Former Free Press columnist Gary Lawless and former Jets colour commentator Shane Hnidy work on the broadcast side for the Golden Knights.

And, of course, there’s McCrimmon himself. He may be from Saskatchewan, but the long-time owner/GM/coach of the Wheat Kings is a major part of Manitoba’s hockey DNA. After joining the expansion Golden Knights as an assistant GM, he took over the top role in 2019 when George McPhee was promoted to president.

“I just have always believed you’ve got humble, hardworking people, and this is a general comment on Manitobans,” said McCrimmon. “For me, you always have great success with the people. Forget the players, just dealing with people. I have always really appreciated, enjoyed and valued the relationships that we have with a lot of those players. So a lot of respect for players that come through minor hockey system in the province.”

Grab some kielbasa and rye bread, rent out a hall and you could throw a heck of a social with all this local flavour.

Lest you think this is just a matter of McCrimmon and his staff, including Karpan and Lowes, being blindly loyal to their Prairie roots, keep in mind this is an organization willing to do whatever it takes to win. In other words, you sure as heck better be ready, willing and able to contribute to a team that made it to the Final in their expansion season — Jets fans don’t need to be reminded of that — but still weren’t satisfied after coming up just short against Washington, taking runs at numerous big names through trades and free agent signings (including Stone, a former Wheat King).

“When we traded for Mark (from Ottawa) at the deadline in year two, for me, that really validated what we were trying to do. We had the storybook season our novel year. And we improved our team in year two,” said McCrimmon.

“That for me was one of the more significant moves that we made as a franchise. From there, you know, it’s been all about trying to win. We’ve made a lot of moves since then, but you know just for me, once we had Mark in place, I thought that sent a great message to the rest of our team. He’s such a good player, a good leader, a good person. The kind of player you want on your team.”

Vegas done plenty of winning lately, sitting on top of the Western Conference despite a 5-4 overtime loss to Winnipeg. The local boys had plenty of contributions in this one Whitecloud and Kolesar assisted on the opening goal, Howden got a helper on the second tally, and Whitecloud notched another apple on the third goal of the game.

Like Stone, Kolesar, Howden and Patrick were also acquired in trades McCrimmon admits he pushed hard for.

“With Nolan, I’ve seen it. I’ve coached him (in Brandon) and seen him do some things in the Western League that 16 and 17-year-old players rarely do,” said McCrimmon

“His first two years in Philadelphia (as a No. 2 overall pick in 2017), I watched lots of games just just because I know him. I thought he did a lot of really good things, it was really trending the right way. Thirteen goals, each of these first two years, 30, 31 points. For young players in NHL, the NHL’s a hard league, right? I thought his first two years were right on pace and then he’s had some (injury) misfortune since that time. We’re looking to give him the opportunity to regain his confidence and become that player that we believe he is.”

McCrimmon has also watched Howden closely over the years, as he was a player the Wheat Kings scouted heavily the same year they selected Patrick third-overall in the bantam draft. Same with Kolesar, who was a thorn in the side of Brandon as he helped lead Seattle to a WHL championship while playing on a line with Mathew Barzal, now a star for the New York Islanders.

“Keegan is a really valuable player on our team. He’s a big strong man, he’s 225 pounds, he’s lean, he’s physical, his skating has improved so much since he left junior hockey and he’s got very good hockey sense,” said McCrimmon.

Whitecloud’s parents were long-time billets for Brandon players, so there’s an obvious connection there that helped when signing the undrafted college free agent. Brooks was a waiver-wire pickup earlier this season.

“You know, I’ve watched Adam since he was a Winnipeg Hawk that would have set scoring records that likely were never matched in bantam hockey. He took a while to find his way in the Western Hockey League. By the time he was done, he was one of the best players in junior hockey,” said McCrimmon.

“With these players, certainly my familiarity is part of it but then our pro staff, our amateur staff are involved in every decision that we make. So the amateurs have background on players prior to being drafted or when they were in junior or college and then the pro staff have their hands, their fingerprints are on every move we make. So this has all been tied together.”

There’s no question the majority of Manitobans root for the Jets. But given all the provincial connections in Las Vegas, an argument could be made that hockey fans should actually be cheering the Golden Knights. Heck, if they ever do capture Lord Stanley, the silver chalice is going to be spending much of the summer in our backyard.

McCrimmon says there’s plenty of room on the bandwagon.

“We’re ready to be their second favourite team,” he cracked.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg