It was the fourth NHL development camp of his young career, and there was Alex Tuch last June, trudging from the rink to the locker room with all the draft picks and free agents, striding by the snack bar and those heated pretzels and other various treats, wandering past all the curious junior figure skaters and hockey Moms and Dads, a tall figure among wide-eyed teammates at the Las Vegas Ice Center.
All the while, Tuch never over-thought his objective.
“I just wanted to make the team,” he said.
The global tale that has become the Golden Knights and their unprecedented inaugural season was formed through a collection of required ingredients, be it the resurgence of a Hall of Fame goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury or the veteran leadership of James Neal and Deryk Engelland or the fact William Karlsson went completely nuts and raised his previous best in regular-season goals from nine to 43.