Vegas Golden Knights Honored at White House by President Joe Biden

The Vegas Golden Knights visited the White House to be honored by President Joe Biden for their Stanley Cup victory.

President Joe Biden started by chuckling, “On an ice rink in the middle of the desert. Who says you can’t get anything done?”

Sure, it is meant to be funny and warm up the room. But think about it for a second. Vegas did not have a name for its hockey team until Nov. 2016. We are nearly seven short years later watching our Golden Knights honored by the President of the United States of America for winning a Stanley Cup. It is amazing thinking about what this team has accomplished in just seven short years.

“Mark is my kind of guy. I didn’t play ice hockey, I played football.” President Biden said. “Two back surgeries in a year. Misses the second half of the season. Returns for game one of the playoffs. Scores a hat trick in game five of the Stanley Cup. This guy gets up and goes, man.”

Oh boy, President Biden went there. Here come the comments about the Golden Knights circumventing the salary cap.

President Biden seemed blown away at the idea of an ice hockey team in Vegas. “Vegas desert. Who would have thought of this? It seemed like a pipedream. But the team ownership had faith in predicting a playoff run in three years and a Stanley Cup in six.” President Biden then cracked a joke about not paying attention to the polling data.

Back to what the Golden Knights accomplished in their first six seasons. “A trip to the finals in your very first year, five trips to the playoffs, four conference finals, and 267 total wins in six years. One of the best win records in hockey.” President Biden said.

“Only in Vegas, only in Vegas.” President Biden said as he referenced the team’s passing of the Elvis wig and glasses after winning a playoff game.

President Biden on what the Golden Knights do for the local community. “Like all great franchises, you give back to the community. Sponsoring after-school activities for kids and programs for the disabled community. Honoring service members, veterans, and military families at games and hockey clinics.”

The events of one October will never be forgotten. “And in your case, you also held an entire city together. Showing up for victim’s families, survivors, and first responders. In fact, your championship ring honors them. You guys are something else.” President Biden closed his remarks with.

Now it was Mark Stone’s turn to say a few words. “We all come here in awe of this beautiful place and have such respect for you (President Biden) and the office you hold.” Stone was taken back by the moment and needed a moment to collect himself. “It’s a lot easier playing hockey in front of 20,000 then doing this. It’s an honor to speak on behalf of my teammates, the entire organization, and the city of Las Vegas. Which is an amazing city. It’s the entertainment capital of the world, I say that with all due respect to Delaware Mr. President.”

Stone closed by saying, “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Some of the guys have done it more than once. We are looking forward to trying to get back here.”