An expansion franchise, the Las Vegas Golden Knights took six years to achieve one of the greatest dreams of every hockey player — hoist the Stanley Cup. After such a journey, it’s more than understandable if any of the players wanted to take the time to bask in the afterglow of their success.
William Karlsson might be the best example all around.
The Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup parade took place on Saturday night. IJt lined the Las Vegas Strip with countless people, and Sin City, ironically, never seemed more alive with happy sports energy.
After taking the microphone, Karlsson — the Golden Knights’ third-line center — went on an all-time rant with his speech. He talked up his teammate and Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault. He discussed his personal journey and the road the Golden Knights took to get to the top. He, for some reason, mentioned the Arizona Coyotes?
In all honesty, in a video from KTNV Las Vegas, a shirtless Karlsson kind of really covered everything while throwing in a healthy number of random expletives here and there:
(Warning: NSFW language in the video below.)
Wild Bill. Absolutely lmao pic.twitter.com/w8Dm1u41nw
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) June 18, 2023
Phew. That man is having the time of his life talking up the biggest moment of his career.
I’m a little disappointed someone actually took the microphone away from Karlsson because how do you possibly follow him? You’ve got the essence of the defending champion Golden Knights encapsulated perfectly in just about two minutes.
This was how Twitter reacted to Karlsson's speech
(Warning: NSFW language in the shared videos and some tweets below.)
Goodnight to William Karlsson and William Karlsson only.#VegasBorn @8NewsNow pic.twitter.com/ZrpGCHwl7W
— Logan Reever (@loganreever) June 18, 2023
Goodnight to William Karlsson and William Karlsson only. Our Wild Bill 💛🤠
— Wesley Powers-Sabugo (@mtrlguy) June 18, 2023
William Karlsson is a god damn legend 😂
— Drew Livingstone (@ProducerDrew_) June 18, 2023
William Karlsson needs a street named after him in Vegas after this speech. pic.twitter.com/vluscGcX39
— Talkie (@Talkie86) June 18, 2023
The greatest speech in NHL history was given by William Karlsson pic.twitter.com/XfxBFaMLMA
— VGK Out Of Context (@VGKContext) June 18, 2023
William Karlsson is my hero https://t.co/WjNuQ1HlUB
— Jack Eichel, shift manager (@TheodoreTooth) June 18, 2023
the rest of the golden knights when the woman with the backpack kept trying to take the microphone away https://t.co/EogJECpXNY pic.twitter.com/HtjK00UnLm
— kathleen (@kathleen_hanley) June 18, 2023
Greatest Championship Parade speech EVER, courtesy of William Karlsson! https://t.co/15QtxTYBm7
— Dorian Oldham (@DorianOldham) June 18, 2023
me, screaming at the panicked comms staffwr “noooo let him speak!!” https://t.co/vtyqPhLVp7
— Melissa Martin (@DoubleEmMartin) June 18, 2023
