Las Vegas usually tries to entice visitors with drinks, players’ clubs and hot dice. But some of Sin City’s newcomers would like tourists from Utah to make the trip for dekes, power plays and icing, too.
Members of the Vegas Golden Knights, the National Hockey League’s newest team, have been road tripping through the West, trying to sow the seeds of fandom ahead of their inaugural season. Their tour bus has gone from Vegas to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Whitefish, Mont., and Bozeman, Mont. On Saturday morning, Knights coaches Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly were at the Salt Lake City Sports complex, skating with Utahns, taking pictures, signing autographs — and hopefully making a few new fans in the process.
“It’s exciting,” Gallant said. “We’re trying to reach out to our fans all over the area. These people are going to be watching our games on TV. I hope they’ll come down for a weekend and watch some of our hockey games.”
Gallant himself was skeptical that Las Vegas and hockey could mix when he first heard the idea.
“Ten years ago, your heard it for the first time and you said no that will never happen,” he admitted. “And now that it has, it’s exciting. There’s a great buzz in Las Vegas. Everybody’s really excited to get the season going.”
Gallant, a 53-year-old Canadian who spent most of his playing days with the Detroit Red Wings, believes the expansion team is setting itself up for a good first season and, thanks to a wealth of first-round draft picks, an even brighter future.
Officials said the team has sold roughly 14,000 season tickets for its first season at the 17,500-seat T-Mobile Arena. But the Golden Knights are still hoping to drum up extra support before they drop the puck in October.
Karey Johnson, of Sandy, surprised her two sons with Saturday morning’s open skate.
When 9-year-old Daniel saw the Knights bus outside the hockey rink, his eyes grew wide. Daniel and his brother Andrew, 11, have been supporting the St. Louis Blues but now consider themselves converts. They even waited outside the Knights’ Vegas arena for the chance to buy merchandise on the day of the team store’s grand opening.
“They’re our team now,” Daniel said.
Michael Ross, meanwhile, walked into the rink Saturday wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins T-shirt on Saturday, and left with a Vegas Golden Knights hoodie and two hats. The Utah transplant isn’t forsaking his beloved Penguins, but he and his two young nephews want to support goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury — and they’re excited about the prospect of having an NHL team within driving distance from their home.
“We’ll be at games for sure,” Ross said.