By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
They have gathered at the Mandalay Bay beach, on the plaza in the shadow of T-Mobile Arena, at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center and now at the pools of Red Rock resort in Summerlin. And no matter where they cheer and root duringthe Stanley Cup playoffs, Vegas Golden Knights fans know how to have a good time.
The beer was flowing and the nachos were being munched at Red Rock, where some 2,500 fans roared with approval when the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 3-1, in Game 2 Monday to knot the Best-of-7 Western Conference Final at a game a piece. Game 3 is set for T-Mobile Arena at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Golden Knights pals Bryant Bustamante and Andrew Petrovsky appreciated the variety of settings for the official Golden Knights parties. Many hockey towns have outdoor watch parties on the plaza or street near the team’s home arena, but Las Vegas is different, staging watch parties at a resort’s sandy beach off the Strip and amid pools at Red Rock about 13 miles west of the Strip.
And when they say, “get a room,” at Red Rock, there’s also a marketing angle to the saying because the Golden Knights press release on the team’s watch party there said, “. . . book a hotel room at the exclusive Knights rate, call 702-797-7777 and use code RCIVGK” at Red Rock.
Some sat near pools.
“It’s nice to have variety and have the watch party in one place,” Petrovsky said before the game.
And his pal, Bustamante noted,” The energy is still the same.”
While the screen was not as large as usual, fans still enjoyed the pool and palm tree atmosphere at Red Rock.
“It’s different. It’s very different. But what do you expect with hockey in the desert,?” asked Manning Kulis.
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The Golden Knights, as usual for their watch parties, brought in arena PA announcer Bruce Cusick, DJ Joe Green, music director Jake Wagner, emcee Big D, the dude who dresses like a knight and the Knights cheerleaders to re-create the T-Mobile Arena atmosphere at these various watch party venues. Even the Drumbots marched with their drums without falling into any of the pools.
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