LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Henderson Silver Knights' 2025-26 season went down in history as the most successful year for the franchise to date.
According to head coach Ryan Craig, there was a specific moment his team turned a corner after the all-star break.
"We went into San Jose, played one of our best games of the year, the next night lost to the same team and that was the start of the run," Craig said. "I think as a group, how we were able to take in what had happened on the weekend, understand it, learn from it, the response from our group, galvanized ourselves to what we accomplished."
This moment sparked a 21-4-4 record to finish the second half of the regular season as the hottest team in the American Hockey League.
Alex Eschelman hears from key players to reflect on a banner season for the Silver Knights:
"We got a bunch of new bodies and maybe it clicked a bit more, found chemistry on more lines and a bit more consistency — which is key I think," forward Jonas Rondbjerg said.
That consistency showed up on all ends of the ice. The Silver Knights finished the regular season with 90 points and 39 wins — both franchise records.
Offensively, the team set a new single-game record with 9 goals.
Special teams wise — the HSK lead the AHL with a 26% power play percentage.
These stats only scratch the surface of individual performance records including:
Tanner Laczynski tieing the franchise points record with 64, matching Gage Quinney's mark set in 2022-23, and Raphael Lavoie setting a new franchise record with 30 goals in a single season.
On the blue line, Dylan Cormier set franchise records for defensemen with 39 assists and 47 points.
Matyas Sapovaliv and Jeremy Davies became the first Silver Knights in franchise history to appear in all 72 games in a season.
Despite the Silver Knights' loss to Colorado in the divisional semifinals, captain Jaycob Megna said expectations are already on another level for next season.
"I hope for the fans, I hope for the organization, they have realized top to bottom what it does take to win and what they need to win," Megna said. "This place as far as the amenities and the way they treat the players is as good as I've ever been in...obviously we would've liked to be a little further and eventually be the last team standing but, I think it was definitely a great year for growth and for guys to see that come to fruition on the ice," Megna said.
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