Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic <\/p>\n
LAS VEGAS \u2014 There was a lot of nostalgia that naturally came with Reilly Smith\u2019s first time playing at T-Mobile Arena since winning his first Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights two seasons ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In reflecting on his six years in Vegas, however, the 33-year-old forward considers so much more than his championship ring: his expansion draft-day trade from the Panthers; the feeling in the Golden Knights\u2019 locker room at the start; the journey he and his teammates went on to become the first team to deliver Lord Stanley to the Strip in Sin City.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought my career was over,\u201d Smith told The Post of his initial thoughts coming to Vegas, after the Rangers\u2019 morning skate Saturday. \u201cIt was kind of, at that time, it didn\u2019t seem like a good opportunity. It almost seemed like a demotion. How it turned out was completely different than that. And it couldn\u2019t have been better for my career, my family and everything. I owe a lot to this organization here. It really changed my hockey career and my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing part of that expansion draft was a blessing in disguise. But I think the coolest part of it was just a lot of people who were thrown off and cast away from their own team came together, and we were all just on an even slate coming into the season, and we all just wanted to enjoy it and make the most of the opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith described a nervousness to start the NHL era in Vegas, but the players in the room had a lot in common with how they felt about their departures from their previous teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Players felt cast aside and wanted to be better for it, Smith said, noting that they used it as fuel and became a very tight-knit group because of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the backs of players who felt they had something to prove, the Golden Knights ultimately made it to the Cup Final in their inaugural 2017-18 season, when they lost to the Capitals in five games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith was certainly one of them; it can be heard in his voice when he talks about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember winning our first game, and we were just excited that we didn\u2019t go 0-82,\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cSo that was kind of just how the energy of the team built through that year. Like, we didn\u2019t have a lot of expectations, but every day it grew and grew and grew, and it was more all the time. I think that\u2019s what made that team so successful that first year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Putting daughter Isla, then 8 months old and now 2 \u00bd, inside the Cup was something he said he\u2019ll remember for the rest of his life. <\/p>\n
Though what his time in Vegas did for his hockey career also appears to be unforgettable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After he was traded to Pittsburgh ahead of the 2023-24 season, Smith was flipped to New York on July 1 and will have played in 40 of 41 games after Saturday night, the other game being a healthy scratch designation on Nov. 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s game fit right into the Rangers\u2019 underachieving lineup through the first couple of months of the season, until the healthy scratch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the 18 games since then, entering Saturday\u2019s matchup with the Golden Knights, Smith had posted five goals and three assists to go along with a plus-2 rating.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s played with intention and speed, and he showed off the impressive way he thinks through the game, which is one of his top assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It feels like his game hit another gear, but Smith would not credit the benching for the uptick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a believer that I took any positives out of it, to be honest,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI know my game, I know when it\u2019s going well and I know when it\u2019s not going well. When something like that happens, it\u2019s tough for me personally. I don\u2019t really have anything to say where, \u2018Oh, that happened, and now I\u2019m a better player for it.\u2019 I don\u2019t believe that. But I think since the Christmas break, I\u2019ve been playing better. I think our team is playing better. I just want to continue that trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m my biggest critic. Like I said, I know when I\u2019m playing well, and I know when I\u2019m not playing well. I know when I\u2019m gripping my stick too tight, and I know when things are just very smooth. I don\u2019t know how anyone wants to interpret it or take any spin on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the reality and that\u2019s how I approach every part of my game. If something isn\u2019t working, I\u2019m the one that\u2019s going to make the change, no one else is going to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic LAS VEGAS \u2014 There was a lot of nostalgia that naturally came with Reilly Smith\u2019s first time playing at T-Mobile Arena since winning his first Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights two seasons ago.\u00a0 In reflecting on his six years in Vegas, however, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-161995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161997,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161995\/revisions\/161997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}