Graney: Knights use chip on their shoulders, smash Colorado

They will play the no-respect card, the chip-on-a-shoulder card, the nobody-believes-in-us card to begin the season.

And that’s fine.

Whatever generates motivation. Whatever makes your skates a little faster, your shot a little harder, your defense a little stiffer.

It’s an act Michael Jordan and the Bulls used to roll out when winning championships, for heaven’s sake. So did Georgia football when winning its recent national titles.

It has been a go-to tactic for countless winning teams and athletes through the years.

But the Golden Knights that opened their eighth year as a franchise by beating Colorado 8-4 on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena also must know this: No one is buying it.

Predictions fluctuate

There might be several new and younger players in the locker room this season, but there is no doom and gloom forecast for this team. There really hasn’t been — not to any elevated level — since an expansion side we all remember well made a Stanley Cup Final.

Predictions of where the Knights might finish in a given year fluctuate, but few if any have ever totally written them off before a puck is dropped. That’s crazy. They’ve been too good.

Odds change here and there — the Knights aren’t among the favorites to win a Cup as a new season arrives — but the team is never an afterthought. Nor should they be.

“I think players need motivation, but to what degree that comes from is a good question,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Are you too old? Is your window closing? There’s some motivation there. But we’ve been champions. We play the right way. We have a great organization.

“But I think it’s good for players to have something like a (chip on their shoulders) at the rink every day to be better and good pros. It gives them a little extra juice, so why not? It’s a long year.

“Now, how much you tap into it is something to keep an eye on. If you do it every night, the message can get old. But to get off to a good start, I think we can use it.”

They tried it some after winning the Stanley Cup in 2023, this stated idea that they had little hope of repeating. And they ultimately didn’t win back-to-back titles, losing to Dallas in the first round of the playoffs last season in seven games.

That undoubtedly gave the Knights the idea that there are few outsiders on board with them contending for a Pacific Division crown or making another deep postseason run. It gave them the perfect amount of fuel.

“I think it always motivates you, any time you win and the following season have the same expectation and come up short,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “It leaves a sour taste in our mouths.

“We want to get back to where we were. We obviously have some changes in the room, but we brought in a lot of good players and a lot of good character guys that will fit in really well.”

Jordan could play

Here’s the thing: Talented pros often play better and win more when they have something to prove. The juice that Cassidy speaks of — no matter how contrived it might be — is a real source of incentive.

This stuff actually works sometimes.

Michael Jordan was pretty good.

“You’re trying to find stuff to hang your hat on,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “We had a lot of adversity last season with injuries, so now it’s prove-it time. Try to stay healthy in the regular season and into the playoffs. We’re a better team when we have something to prove and have that chip on our shoulders. There are a lot of people writing us off.

“But we believe in this group. We believe in this organization.”

The no respect card is a popular platform.

It can also prove one of the best to use.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.