Golden Knights’ good behavior off the ice mirrors that of NHL

Austin Watson is a forward for the Nashville Predators who scored 14 goals and was assessed 123 penalty minutes in 76 games during the recently completed hockey season. Which wasn’t terribly noteworthy.

Last week, Watson was taken into custody at a Shell station in front of a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Franklin, Tennessee, a prominent Nashville suburb. He allegedly struck a woman, and for this he was charged with domestic assault.

This was much more significant than his 14 goals and 123 penalty minutes for the obvious reason, and for the reason that a NHL player being arrested has become more rare than a clean-shaven checking line during the Stanley Cup Final.

In May, Ottawa Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee was arrested for harassment after allegedly making lewd comments to a male hotel shuttle driver. In April, Arizona Coyotes forward Richard Panik was charged after allegedly refusing to leave the entrance to a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Beyond that, one has to go back to 2016 when Evander Kane, then with the Buffalo Sabres, now with the San Jose Sharks, was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing for an incident at a Buffalo bar called Bottoms Up, which, only a guess here, probably wasn’t the first time that had happened.

According to the sports arrest database Arrest Nation, the NHL went the entire 2016-17 season without having one of its players, coaches or Zamboni drivers running afoul of the law. This might seem amazing, considering that by its nature hockey is a violent game, and you would think guys would have trouble drawing the line after the last high-sticking penalty is served.

But as Golden Knights development camp continued at City National Arena on Wednesday, it has become apparent that a trend has developed.

Best behavior

Hockey players simply don’t get into trouble as often as their contemporaries in other sports.

Those with goatees and furrowed brows who smoke pipes and charge $125 for an hour of psychoanalysis probably could explain it a lot better than I could. I’m sure there are socioeconomic and myriad other factors that weigh into it.

Additional observation: While NFL players have a reputation for breaking the law more frequently than Jesse James and Motley Crue combined, a 2015 study revealed the arrest rates for men of the same general age group in society was nearly twice as high as those of NFL players from 2000 to 2013.

Put that on your brow and furrow it.

Anyway, here are the 2017 number of arrests by sport according to Arrest Nation:

— College football, 230.

— Former players (all sports), 88.

— Pro football, 49.

— College basketball, 43.

— Coaches, 23.

— Soccer, 7.

— Pro basketball, 6.

— College softball, 3.

— Pro baseball, 3.

— College baseball, 2.

There actually was one more mascot arrested than NHL player in 2017. The guy who was the West Virginia Mountaineer was booked after being stopped for speeding and failing sobriety tests, giving the notorious Stanford Tree something to shoot for.

In researching mascots gone bad, I discovered the following headline: “Horny, Inebriated Stanford Tree A Menace to Decent Society.” But that’s probably a story for another day.

The story for this one is that in following the NHL example, the Golden Knights were a well-behaved bunch on the ice and off during their inaugural season.

Luck be a Lady Byng

Vegas had only eight fights all season, tying for last place in the NHL with Carolina and Winnipeg. William Karlsson, who accrued only 12 penalty minutes, last week received the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship. Karlsson is to the Knights what Barney Fife was to the Mayberry P.D., if Barney had a deft wrist shot and flowing blond locks.

This team also set a fine example for comportment and character off the ice. I received an email from a reader who suggested I should write about that, which I had planned to do, once the Knights started losing as expansion teams are wont.

But this was no ordinary expansion team, and there would be no wont.

As the winning continued into March, April, May and even June, writing about a dog named for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury seemed more important than writing about the Knights staying out of trouble before, during and after games.

A squeaky-clean image was probably far down on most lists on why the Knights became so endearing to local fans. But like the team’s forecheck and the pup named for Marc-Andre Fleury, it was always there and one more reason to cheer.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.