TWO FORMER AMERKS WIN STANLEY CUP WITH VEGAS
Jun 14, 2023Two former Rochester Americans are first-time Stanley Cup champions after leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a decisive 9-3 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in only their sixth season in the NHL, the fastest by an expansion team across all four major sports to win a league title since the Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001.
Forward William Carrier and defenseman Brayden McNabb have both been with Vegas since being acquired by the Golden Knights during the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Carrier is coming off an NHL career-high 25-point campaign during the regular season and McNabb contributed 17 points (1+16) while being one of only three Vegas skaters – and the only defenseman – to appear in all 82 regular-season games.
Originally a second-round selection of the St. Louis Blues in 2013, Carrier spent his entire American Hockey League career with the Amerks from 2014-15 to 2016-17, recording 56 points (23+33) in 127 career games.
His best season as an Amerk came during the 2015-16 campaign when he scored 13 goals and finished with career-highs in assists (17) and points (30) in 56 games.
Carrier began the 2016-17 season with Rochester, notching five points (3+2) in eight games before earning a permanent recall to the NHL where he closed out the campaign with eight points (5+3) in 41 appearances for the Buffalo Sabres.
He joined Vegas the following season, reaching the 20-point in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his NHL career in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
McNabb also played his first three pro seasons with the Amerks from 2011-12 to 2013-14 while also splitting time with the Sabres.
Buffalo’s third-round selection (66th overall) in 2009, McNabb reached the 30-point mark in each of his first two seasons in Rochester, highlighted by a career-best 31 assists and 36 points during the 2012-13 campaign.
In 145 career games in the red, white and blue, McNabb totaled 95 points on 17 goals and 78 assists while also adding one assist in three Calder Cup Playoff contests.
He also appeared in 37 games with the Sabres over parts of two seasons before going onto spend the next three years with Los Angeles and ultimately joining Vegas ahead of the 2017-18 season.
Additionally, Darren Eliot, who serves as an analyst for all Golden Knights radio and TV broadcasts, is a former Amerks goaltender who spent the 1988-89 season in Rochester. Eliot is also the father of former Amerks defenseman Mitch Eliot, who spent the last two seasons with the Amerks.
The Eliot’s are one of only four father-son duos in franchise history to play for the Amerks.