From the beginning, they had no idea what might happen, how good or bad they might prove to be, what results and memories such a new and curious journey might create.
Who are we kidding?
From the beginning, they hardly knew each other.
“You weren’t coming in and asking how a guy’s summer went like usual,” said Golden Knights forward James Neal. “You were coming in and saying, ‘Hi, I’m James,’ and, ‘Hi, I’m Reilly. Nice to meet you.’
“So, yeah, it was a little different.”
How they traveled from such an inception of everyday pleasantries to now — having annihilated the low expectations of an expansion team to become Pacific Division champions, sweeping Los Angeles in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, about to host Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal against San Jose — is a tale of nearly implausible occurrences.