LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As the Vegas Golden Knights gear up for the start of the regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 10, our Tina Nguyen sits down with reigning Conn Smythe Jonathan Marchessault.
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TINA NGUYEN: 82 games. Four rounds of the playoffs. And you guys were the team to win it all. What did it mean to win Las Vegas its first Stanley Cup, especially as an Original Golden Knight tonight?
JONATHAN MARCHESSAULT: Obviously, it meant a lot. We've been working so hard for the past few years to try to achieve that goal. We're so close to the first year, but at the same time, so far. We're just super proud of what we've done for the city and what the city did for us too. It's been unbelievable, and the story is inspiring; it's just great timing and has been so much fun.
NGUYEN: You went from being an undrafted player to a Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Have you had a moment to appreciate how far you've come?
MARCHESSAULT: Yeah, I realized it a couple of weeks after we won. I think it's something that I have worked so hard on all my life — so everything else is just the cherry on top. It's been such an amazing run. I'm proud of where it brought me, but it definitely had a lot of zig-zags and up-and-downs throughout my career. It was a happy summer, for sure.
NGUYEN: What was it like to lift the cup in front of more than 18,000 fans?
MARCHESSAULT: Well, to win it is one thing, but to win it at home? It was an unbelievable feeling to be able to share that with the fans and be in Vegas. And it was the Stanley Cup — a lifetime accomplishment. We've worked so hard, not just our team but everybody — all the players we've been playing since we were three, four or five years old. It's just it's been such a hard run. But it definitely felt so satisfying when it happened, for sure.