DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And we're going to turn now to hockey and an incredible Cinderella story.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROARING CROWD)
GREENE: That's the sound outside an arena on the Las Vegas Strip last night. Fans of the Vegas Golden Knights were watching as their team beat the Winnipeg Jets to reach hockey's Stanley Cup final.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAN D'UVA: (Yelling) A (unintelligible) feed. And it goes wide. And that's it. It's over. The Knights are going to the Stanley Cup Final.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JIM HUGHSON: The incredible journey continues for the Vegas Golden Knights.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KENNY ALBERT: Two hundred and twenty-seven days after their first regular season game in franchise history, the Vegas Golden Knights are headed to the Stanley Cup Final.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK. The announcers sound a little excited, but this is exciting. An expansion franchise in the very first season, a team made up of castaway players not wanted by other teams, and here they are even though they've been calling themselves the misfits.
GREENE: Yeah, the misfits, but coaching and chemistry and some unbelievable goaltending saw them set the league on fire.
INSKEEP: Jonathan Marchessault is on his fourth NHL team in five years but is now leading scorer in the playoffs.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JONATHAN MARCHESSAULT: We went against the odds all year. We're going to keep doing what we do best. I mean, it's just prove people wrong. And whoever we're facing, we're probably not going to be favorite next round. So it's just the way it goes, and that's fine with that.
GREENE: And this is what makes this story even more special. The Golden Knights bonded with this city in a moment of tragedy. Their first-ever game last October came just days after the mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead.
INSKEEP: Yeah, Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury says the team was happy to be a rallying point.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: It was a big moment, obviously, in the city. And I think as a team, if we - you know, we couldn't, you know, heal anybody, you know? But if we could just change their mind a bit, you know, throughout those first few weeks and throughout the season and get them to be proud of their team, cheering for something - you know? - they can - I'm happy that we're able to provide a little bit of that, you know, to Vegas.
GREENE: And now this team, the Golden Knights, could be Stanley Cup champions if they can pull off four more wins.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACK DAVID, AL HOFFMAN AND JERRY LIVINGSTON'S "A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES (INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)")
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