Of course, all this adulation, once so unexpected, can dull one's edge where it matters. With 40 games left during the regular season, not to mention the playoffs, the Knights must remain as sharp as they've been throughout the first half of the season.
With that in mind, I spoke with Perron, Marc-Andre Fleury, Deryk Engelland, Gerard Gallant, and Nate Schmidt about how to avoid getting too comfortable. Some answers were what was expected, while others were surprising, and actually, pretty funny.
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HockeyBuzz: All this success that you've had on the ice, this stunning fan turnout today, how do you keep this locker room, full of so many young guys, focused, keep them away from getting big heads?
David Perron: It's up to the older guys to make sure that we talk to them, we joke around with them, we give them tough love sometimes. When we were younger, we all went through that stuff, but obviously here, it's a different city. There's a lot of things that can happen.
We want to make sure they stay level-headed. They're great young guys. But pranks here and there, things like that, it's all for fun at the end of the day.
They have the right to answer to us too. To be honest with you, they've been unbelievable.
Marc-Andre Fleury: We have little talks in there, but our coach is good too at making sure that we play our game.
You don't want to take it too far ahead. That's the main focus. Stay in the present. Enjoy it.
We've been pretty consistent. The second half is always the toughest. Everybody is trying to get some points to make it into the playoffs.
Gerard Gallant: Come and play, have fun, work hard. My message isn't going to change to them.
You don't worry about looking at the standings everyday.
HB: Do you think it's a good mix of old and young here?
DP: Yeah. I've had a good relationship with Marchessault. I've probably been giving him trouble five or six times a day. Hopefully, he never gets a big head. It's on my plate if that happens because I'm all over him. And he's been all over me, quite frankly. We never stop going at each other.
They've got to know, other cities, it's not always like this. We're fortunate.
You see a couple teams, they go young, but they don't have many older guys around. I feel like they can get in trouble. I don't want to name names. But I really believe the older guys can bring a good presence in the room.
A guy like Deryk, for us in the room, he doesn't even talk that much. But when he talks, literally every single guy listens.
I played with Flower, so I knew what to expect from him.
I think most guys with experience, we try not to talk too much. But when it's time to talk, we make sure everyone listens.
HB: Speaking of Fleury, years ago, Vancouver made Roberto Luongo their unofficial captain. Would such an honor be fitting for Flower?
DP: For sure. But I don't think we've ever raised the question once [about the captaincy].
We've always joked around that I'm captain, this guy's captain, that guy's captain. Today, I was joking with Marchy, I asked him, "Is it today that they're going to announce your captaincy on the stage?"
It would be a great honor for Marc, but I don't know that he's looking for it.
HB: One thing that will probably keep this team hungry is the fact that everybody here was "let go" from their previous franchise over the summer. None of you quite have that feeling of being so entrenched, so established, at least this season.
Nate Schmidt: What the beauty of this team is, we still have a lot to prove. We still have a lot of games against good teams and [we have] guys who have come from those teams.
There really can't be a quit for us. Because if we don't, that's our bread and butter, we're in trouble.
If you're working hard, that's when you're starting to realize the good parts of our game, you keep the crap out of your game.
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Speaking of leadership, it's fitting that Engelland was signed today to a one-year, $1.5 million dollar extension.
The underrated Deryk Engelland, who's been valuable leader and penalty killer for #VegasBorn, is coming back next season, $1.5 million, one-year extension. Was going to be UFA. Actually having something of a career year offensively, his 1.18 5v5 Points/60 is highest of his career
When I asked Engelland about how to keep the room focused, he didn't have much to say, but took a big picture view, "You have to try not to get a big head, but you also have to soak it in too. Just run with it."
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The Knights are certainly running with it! Also running is Steve Sisolak, who's vying to be Governor of Nevada. I caught up with him at the fan fest.
HockeyBuzz: How did you get into the sport?
Steve Sisolak: I didn't have much of a hockey background. I've been to a few of the [Frozen Fury] games with the Kings.
I guess I jumped in off the deep end. It's a sport that I had trouble keeping up with, my eyes, at the beginning. Now, I can anticipate a little bit better.
I'm also learning how you run an organization; it doesn't get any better than this. Bill has been such an incredible community leader. We couldn't ask for more.
This came at a time when our community went through its worst tragedy. The event that they put on at their first game was just something that I still get goosebumps when I think about it. The way they honored those first responders and the survivors, it was such an emotional night for this whole community. I think that's what set the stage for all of this. That's where the community instantaneously fell in love.
HB: Who's your favorite player?
SS: I like Fleury. He's a little older, which I get a kick out of. He's very personable. But I love 'em all.
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If you missed it, here are pics and videos from the event:
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