Golden Knights Fans In LA Enjoy First Round Sweep of LA Kings After Fleury Stonewalls Kings, 1-0, At Staples Center
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Downtown Los Angeles — The Vegas Golden Knights move on — and Golden Knights fans were in LA to witness it.
Behind Marc-Andre Fleury’s stellar goaltending, the first-year Golden Knights stonewalled the Los Angeles Kings. 1-0, and swept their Pacific Division rivals in four games in round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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Dressed in gold suits and gold face paint to match, Brad Ellis and his young, pint-sized daughter, Madeline, were among the first on line to enter Staples Center Tuesday.
Ellis is a pilot, so he flew with his daughter from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to watch Game 4 between the Golden Knights and the Los Angeles Kings.
Remarkably, the ticket price at Staples was a third of the price for the same seat at T-Mobile Arena, Ellis said.
Ellis said the two seats he bought at Staples Center were $240 each a few rows off the ice. At T-Mobile Arena, the same ticket close to the action cost between $800 and $900 each, he said.
Intetrestingly, the higher ticket prices at T-Mobile Arena kept Kings fans away, while the less expensive tickets at Staples Center were a draw for Golden Knights fans to attend Games 3 and 4 in downtown LA.
LVSportsBiz.com reported last week that some Kings fans stayed away from T-Mobile Arena because of the much higher seat prices.
For other Las Vegans, coming to Game 4 at Staples Center was a historic time for the Golden Knights.
“It’s part of history,” Golden Knights fan Sierra Murray said.
Her husband, Nick Murray, noted that if the Golden Knights defeat the KIngs and sweep LA, then “we’re going to hang out inside a bit” in the arena to avoid any confrontations with testy Kings fans.
Golden Knights defense was terrific in Game 4. Photo credit: Erik John Ricardo/LVSportsBiz.comi
Golden Knights fan John Baratta, who looks like a smaller version of Hulk Hogan and is featured often on the T-Mobile Arena Jumbotron screen, said he offering a seat next to him in Section 8, Row B at T-Mobile Arena for the Hulkster to attend.
Baratta made his offer while waiting in line to get into Staples Center.
You may have seen a certain Golden Knights fan wearing a $300 jersey with “Doughty Slyr” on his back. He’s Mike Bober, who created the jersey before Game 2 in Las Vegas.
If the Golden Knights close out the first round series, “we’re going to get to the hotel as fast as possible.”
Another Golden Knights enjoyed seeing his five-year-old son, Jameson, give it to the Kings.
Before the game, Jason Laricchia’s tot was seen taking a broom and sweeping a Kings logo in a photo area before the game. This was the fourth away game for young Jameson. The kid has been to back-to-back games in Anaheim and Los Angeles in December and an away game when the Golden Knights played the Washington Caps.
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Henderson couple Steve and Carolyn were in the JW Marriott lobby a few hours before the Knights-Kings game and stopped by to say hi as I wrote a story for LVSportsNiz.com at LA Live, the host development for Staples Center.
We chatted by the Golden Knights’ meteoric rise and the LVSportsBiz.com site and the fortunes for Game 4.
Carolyn’s eyes diverted their attention to the lobby bar. “That looks like Kerry Bubolz.”
And funny enough, Steve and Carolyn were just chatting about how they literally see Bubolz everywhere around Las Vegas.
And nore more than 10 minutes, there was Bubolz, with his neatly-cut haircut and blue blazer at the bar.
So, the couple sauntered over to chat with Bubolz and the team president, as usual, found time to schmooze with the fans. Then, Todd Pollock, the team’s tickets and suites chief, joined the trio and they chatted before the game. That’s one of management’s strong suits — they are accessible to fans and enjoy chatting with them.
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