Just before the most improbable of Stanley Cup Final in the most improbable hockey city around
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As lounge acts go, it probably wouldn’t play on the Las Vegas Strip. Then again, no one ever thought the Vegas Golden Knights would be playing on the Las Vegas Strip – and certainly not as late as Memorial Day.
But play they did, in a wild 6-4 win over the Washington Capitals that officially ended with Elvis singing ”Viva Las Vegas” and the Golden Knights taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
The greatest expansion team ever against a classic underachiever was already a story that has played well even among those who wouldn’t think of watching anything but playoff basketball this time of the year.
But a thrilling Game 1 couldn’t have been scripted any better even if Bettman and Daly had spent their pre-game writing it instead of sitting in front of the media, sharing laughs and a few inside jokes. They completed each other’s sentences, and seemed to be having so much fun that they didn’t want to leave.
And why not? They could have taken a victory lap outside the T-Mobile Arena and no one would have seemed to mind.
They are the architects of NHL expansion, the gatekeepers who decide which cities are in the league and which cities must watch from the sidelines. They came up with the plan – hatched privately a decade ago – for billionaire Bill Foley to pay $500 million to put a team among the gamblers, degenerates and, yes, upstanding citizens of the city where fun never stops.
They then made sure it would work, despite all the naysayers who said hockey would never catch on in the desert and certainly not in a city where there are a lot of other things to do than watch hockey players race up and down the ice.
But even the top league execs didn’t expect this.
”No one saw this coming,” Bettman said.
They didn’t in New York, and they didn’t in Las Vegas. A generous expansion draft helped set the Knights up to be competitive, but competitive doesn’t mean scoring 109 points in the regular season and then going 13-3 in the playoffs.
Competitive doesn’t mean taking the ice on Memorial Day with nearly 19
Authentic Saquon Barkley Jersey ,000 crazed Knights fans cheering them on inside the arena on the Strip and thousands more partying as the game unfolded on big-screen TVs outside.
It was, as Bettman pointed out, 342 days since the expansion draft in the same arena. And what a 342 days it has been for not only the new franchise but a league that took a chance on Sin City when no other league would.
Bettman and Daly rolled the dice that Las Vegas would raise the league’s profile and not just because it isn’t, well, Columbus or Ottawa.
”We thought being in Las Vegas would give hockey a greater presence and make the game stronger,” Bettman said.
The results, at least so far, show that bet paying off. Las Vegas has gone mad over the Golden Knights, and hockey is thriving in a town where most ice is made for drinks, not rinks.
And the NHL is on a bit of a roll itself. The controversial decision not to halt play during the middle of the season for the Olympics paid off in increased attention for professional hockey and television ratings for the playoffs, while not nearly up to NBA levels, are up across the board.
And so far no one has said a word about the evils of sports betting and how a major sports franchise can’t exist in a city that allows it.
”This commissioner wasn’t scared by the things other sports leagues may have been scared about,” Daly said.
No one, of course
Kenny Young Color Rush Jersey , could have expected a hockey team to help heal a city in the wake of the Oct. 1 massacre that killed 58 people just down the street from the hockey arena. But the Knights helped that cause, too, adopting the Vegas Strong name and honoring victims not only at the opener nine days after the shooting but at games since.
The players – who call themselves the Golden Misfits – have also done their part, both on and off the ice.
”They seem to be playing with the emotion of a higher purpose,” Bettman said.
That’s one reason why the bookies had them favored to beat the Caps and win the iconic trophy before the first puck dropped in Game 1. So far they’ve not only run through every obstacle in their way, but smashed through them.
Good times in Las Vegas, and good times for the NHL.
Little wonder that Bettman and Daly couldn’t stop smiling.
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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or Kevin Durant had 37 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots and almost single-handedly led the undermanned Golden State Warriors‘ fourth-quarter rally past the San Antonio Spurs for a 110-107 win after Stephen Curry went down early.
Curry was lost for the night to a rolled right ankle early in the first quarter, but the Warriors responded without their two-time MVP to win their seventh straight since the All-Star break.
Curry tweaked his troublesome right ankle driving left for a layup at the 9:38 mark of the first quarter with two Spurs around him. He limped into the tunnel grimacing in pain and frustration, then initially stayed in the game to shoot free throws before heading to the locker room. The team said he was getting re-taped and going through tests, then Curry didn’t return – but the Warriors are going to be cautious at this stage of the season with the playoffs beginning next month.
Curry missed 11 games in December with the sprained right ankle and injured it again last Friday at Atlanta. He won’t travel or play at Portland on Friday.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Boston Celtics were breathing a little easier after beating Minnesota on Thursday night, and their relief was about more than just the outcome.
Jaylen Brown, who landed hard on his back and head following a dunk late in the third quarter, was going to be all right.
Brown lost his grip on the rim as he finished the play
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After he was evaluated for concussion-like symptoms, Brown was taken to a hospital for a CT scan and other testing, coach Brad Stevens said.
MINNEAPOLIS – Derrick Rose signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in a move that reunites the 2011 NBA MVP with three mainstays from his days in Chicago – coach Tom Thibodeau, as well as Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson. The Timberwolves did not release the terms, but a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the deal is for the remainder of the season.
Minnesota will be the fourth team Rose plays for, and technically his fourth franchise in the last 11 months. Rose spent his first eight NBA years in Chicago, five of those with Thibodeau as his coach. He was with New York last season and started this season with Cleveland, but appeared in only 16 games with the Cavaliers largely because of injuries.
TENNIS
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) – Serena Williams won her first match in her comeback at the BNP Paribas Open after a 14-month layoff for the birth of her first child.
The 23-time major winner defeated Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 in the first round.
With new husband and Reddit co-found Alexis Ohanian looking on, Williams played from behind until breaking Diyas in the 11th game of the first set. Diyas netted a forehand and Williams yelled
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Williams served a love game capped by a 100-mph ace in her first service game. She had break points in the first and fifth games but couldn’t convert. She started hitting harder and her familiar grunting returned when she tied the set 5-all.
Diyas and Williams traded service breaks early in the second set. Williams then broke her opponent again en route to winning the final five games. She smiled as she walked to the net, and her family gave her a standing ovation.
GOLF
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) – Tiger Woods discovered how tough Innisbrook can be in a swirling wind, and he was up to the task.
Woods smacked his hands into an oak as he let loose of the club during a bold escape from the trees, came within inches of an ace on the next hole, and most importantly was among 27 players – just under 20 percent of the field – to break par in the Valspar Championship.
Canadian rookie Corey Conners, who got into the field as an alternate not long after he failed to get through Monday qualifying, didn’t make a bogey until his final hole at No. 9 and shot a 4-under 67.
That gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft. Only three other players, including former PGA champion Jimmy Walker broke 70.
Woods made five birdies to counter his mistakes in his round of 70, the first time he broke par in the opening round of a PGA Tour event since his 64 in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 – just six tour events ago because of back surgeries.
This was his first time playing the Valspar Championship.
PRO FOOTBALL
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – A person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press that the Denver Broncos agreed to trade star cornerback Aqib Talib to the Los Angeles Rams.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the trade isn’t official until the start of the new league year Wednesday, said the Rams will send Denver a mid-round pick
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The NFL Network first reported the agreement Thursday. The Broncos had been in talks with the Patriots, 49ers and Rams about Talib, who signed a six-year, $57 million deal in Denver in 2014, part of a defensive makeover that carried the team to the Super Bowl title two years ago.
In Los Angeles, Talib will reunite with Wade Phillips, who was his defensive coordinator in Denver, and will play alongside fellow star cornerback Marcus Peters, whom the Rams are acquiring from Kansas City.
NEW YORK (A.
