The Las Vegas Golden Knights will be a joke. Those aren’t my words, they were the words of several NHL experts about nine months ago. No one will go to the games, Vegas isn’t good for sports, especially hockey. Others mumbled, "The team will be lucky to win 20 games." Well, well, guess again. The expansion Knights are in the Stanley Cup Finals and will be hosting Game 1 of the best-of-seven series next Monday night.

Golden Knights on brink of sports history, and it's great

Never before in sports history has an expansion team dominated in its inaugural season like the Golden Knights have this year.

If the Vegas Golden Knights can scratch out four more victories, not only will they be the first expansion team in history to win a championship in year one, a lot of sportsbooks in Sin City will have to dig deep into their pockets and pay out a hefty sum.

According to a FOX2Now report, many folks, for whatever reason, threw a few bucks on the Golden Knights to win Lord Stanley’s Cup this year. Many are reportedly locals who most likely just wanted a printed ticket to have as a piece of history. Depending on the amount some folks wagered, that ticket could but a brand new car -- or house! The Knights were listed at anywhere between 200/1 to 500/1 back in August 2017, and a $100 or $200 wager is going to kick back some serious cash.

In fact, Covers.com indicates that the Knights could make sportsbooks across the Silver State pay out anywhere between $5 and $7 million, which would be the biggest haul in sports history for a prop bet wager.

Johnny Avello is the executive director of race and sports at Wynn Las Vegas, and he said he has never seen anything like this in his 30-plus years in sports.

“This will be the biggest collective loss, futures-wise,” Avello said. “Plus people wanted to get a souvenir ticket. They probably never thought they were gonna cash it.”

Greatest upset of all?

If the Vegas Knights do win the Stanley Cup, it has to rank as one of the greatest sports stories ever -- and possibly the biggest upset in sports history.

Sure, it isn't like a one game, winner take all event, like the Super Bowl, but that is why this story is even better. At this time last year, Vegas didn't even have a team. Now one year later, with guys who never played together one time as a squad, they are on the verge of sports history.

Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson, the 1969 New York Mets, the Villanova Wildcats of 1985, and the 1980 USA Men's Hockey team all defied logic. They pulled off some of the greatest sports upsets and entered underdog immortality. The Golden Knights are on the cusp of doing the same.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED