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McPhee and McCrimmon built the Knights into an immediate powerhouse, reaching the NHL final as an expansion team in 2018.
“What they’ve done is nothing short of almost astonishing,” says Heward, who played for seven NHL teams and four AHL clubs during his 18-year pro career. “(The Knights) are the talk of the NHL as far as how things are run really well there. I’m super excited about going into that franchise. They’re first class all the way.”
Heward is planning to report to Vegas sometime after Christmas for the Golden Knights’ training camp. The NHL is still finalizing a start date, which will help determine when its affiliates drop the puck.
“I’ve talked with Kelly and George — they’re confident that (the AHL) is going to start,” Heward says. “They want to make sure that their young guys get going. What that looks like, nobody is really 100-per-cent sure. It could be 40 games, it could be 60 games, it could be 20 games. But I think there is going to be a really concerted effort to make sure once the NHL starts that they get going. What that means for other franchises in (American) states that are hard hit (by COVID) right now, who knows? But I’m confident they’re going to get going.”
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