By ALAN SNEL
Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison and Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley will participate in a ceremonial grand opening and puck drop event at the Golden Knights’ new training facility/headquarters, City National Arena, in Summerlin Monday at 9 a.m..
The $25 million two-rink practice center off South Pavilion Center Drive will also be opening a new team store to be called the Arsenal Monday.
Accompanying Hutchison and Foley Monday will be City National Bank CEO Russell Goldsmith, and they will all be joined by Golden Knights players and even 25 elementary school kids who performed well in school to earn the chance to be part of Monday’s grand opening ceremony.
“This is a great facility and it represents everything that Mr. Foley envisions,” said Paul Stowell, a City National Bank spokesman. “It is the premier practice facility in the NHL and it has become also a community center.”
New signage will also be installed at the training center with the Vegas Golden Knights and City National Arena names.
City National Bank and the Golden Knights announced their naming rights deal for the practice center earlier this year. City National Bank has 72 offices, including 17 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta and Minneapolis.
“We are so happy to be tied to Mr. Foley, the Golden Knights and his business empire,” Stowell said. The City National Bank regional offices are only a block away at South Pavilion Center Drive and Charleston Boulevard.
Golden Knights spokesman Eric Tosi said more information about the grand opening ceremony will be coming later this week once more details are confirmed.
The sparkling new facility has already opened its doors for Golden Knights coaches and players to hold practices, while youth players are also skating in the facility near Red Rock Resort and Downtown Summerlin.
The Arsenal team store in the building will sell Golden Knights logo gear and clothing just like its sister team shop at T-Mobile Arena called the Armory. The Armory and Arsenal have Army theme names because Foley is a 1967 U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate and the store names align with the Golden Knights’ team name.
Golden Knights team jerseys should also be available this month. Many fans have already ordered team jerseys, but some fans have said that they would have liked to wear them by now. The NHL switched jersey providers from Reebok to Adidas, so Golden Knights fans had to wait to receive the hockey sweaters.
City National Arena has already been open a few weeks. On Tuesday night, for example, youth hockey players practiced on the rink. The Golden Knights rookies also played their first game in California Tuesday.
And Golden Knights players have also practiced and scrimmaged at City National Arena.
And last week, a Foley-owned pizza pub — MacKenzie River Pizza — made its debut.
Foley is also looking to open more restaurants around Las Vegas and might even open one in T-Mobile Arena. Foley owns 15 percent of T-Mobile Arena, which is behind New York-New York on the west side of the Strip. The Golden Knights play their first regular-season home game at T-Mobile Arena Oct. 10. The first pre-season game on home ice is Sept. 26.
Contact LVSportsBiz.com founder/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com