Julian Radocaj, of Winnipeg, was last man standing from a bachelor party in Las Vegas but took advantage of the situation to attend Game 3 at T-Mobile Arena.
Last year in November when nobody could forecast the Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights playing for a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals, a 26-year-old plumber from Winnipeg by the name of Julian Radocaj made plans with 13 friends for a bachelor party in Las Vegas in mid-May.
The 14 dudes had a great time in Las Vegas this past weekend — and were in the unique position of being in Sin City while their hometown Winnipeg Jets were playing in the conference finals back in Manitoba.
“It was a lot of fun. We obviously got heckled,” Radocaj said after the party of 14 watched Jets-Golden Knights at the Legasse’s Stadium sports bar at the Palazzo.
But the other 13 guys left to return home to Las Vegas, leaving Radocaj all by himself in Las Vegas for Game 3 at T-Mobile Arena Wednesday.
So remarkably, Radocaj walked up to the T-Mobile Arena box office around 1:30 p.m. or so and bought a standing room only ticket for $250 to watch the 6 p.m. game Wednesday.
There were more Jets fans in the ice house for Round 3 than there were Los Angeles Kings fans at T-Mobile Arena games during Round 1 and San Jose Sharks fans at The T during Round 2.
So, Radocaj could bond with some of his Jets pals.
So, being marooned as a Jets fan in Las Vegas didn’t turn out too bad after all.
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Nicholas Griffiths lives in Tampa, but he learned his hockey in Winnipeg. LVSportsBiz.com caught up with Griffiths to explain to Las Vegas fans why Winnipeg embraces hockey like few other places in Canada. Here is his story:
I think part of it is that the city feels it is looked down upon by larger cities like Vancouver, Montreal and especially Toronto.
It’s a prairie town of only approximately 750,000 people and they are extremely proud of being “physically and mentally” tough to survive the elements.
And now they have the national spotlight to prove how resilient they are through their hockey team.
They had a top contender in the WHL and were crushed when the NHL moved “their” team to Arizona.
They are not going to let that happen again.
And I shouldn’t just say Winnipeg. Many rural kids get up before dawn in the dead of winter to go and practice hockey.
I remember when local community rinks were outside and practices were held in the bitter cold.
Many attend summer camps to maintain that edge for the next season.
Winnipeg’s hockey success gives regular people a hope and a dream.
When Winnipeg of the WHL signed Bobby Hull to a $1 million dollar contract in 1972, our school let us out at 2 p.m. so we could go to the signing at Portage and Main.
Where else do you get out of school for a hockey day?
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Unofficial mascot Bark-Andre Furry.
Rick Williams, owner of that Golden Knights internet sensation and unofficial mascot, Bark-Andre Furry, said hockey equipment brand CCM is making a special mini-goalie leg pad to fit the 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier.
A look at the CCM pads coming for Bark-Andre Furry.
Williams, a Summerlin resident, said Bark-Andre Furry is receiving all types of goodies. A new mini-sweatshirt arrived in the mail recently.
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Max Lagace is the new Golden Knights’ back-up goaltender and he told LVSportsBiz.com Thursday what it was like to watch star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury make spectacular saves against the Winnipeg Jets during the Game 3 4-2 win Wednesday night.
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Tampa held its watch parties, too. Hockey mom Paula Flores of Tampa posted these photos on a watch party at a local city park where hundreds of Lightning fans watched the Lightning defeat the Washington Capitals Thursday night and tied the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece.
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Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Contact LVSportsBiz.com founder/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com
Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com.
Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle.
In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com.
After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent.
Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.
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