By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
It was 4:30 a.m. on Golden Knights game day Thursday when Josh Molina opened his Makers & Finders coffeehouse in Downtown Summerlin and soon later VGK superfan Christopher Green, Rick Williams with Bark-Andre Furry the Jack Russell celebrity canine and yellow-clad Vegas showgirl CeCe Correia came strolling by, too.
The sun was not even up and Molina typically opens the coffeehouse at 8 a.m. But this is Vegas and Golden Knights rallies can pop up anytime, anywhere. Even in a suburban business district in front of a coffeehouse where free donuts with Golden Knights designs were being doled out.
LVSportsBiz.com caught up with Correia to find out why she was dressed in full Vegas showgirl attire for the 5 a.m. rally — that also just happened to be shot live by a local news crew at Channel 8. Correia, who works for an agency that hires out its showgirls to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), also appears at Golden Knights games with fans.
“It’s the most’s exciting thing that has happened in Las Vegas in the longest time,” Correia said.
Today the Golden Knights play for survival. This skating band of misfits must win Thursday against the Washington Capitals, or the Stanley Cup Finals will be over and the Capitals will be crowned NHL champion for the first time in its franchise history. The Knights trail the Caps, three games to one. The game starts at 5 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena later today.
Here’s Molina on why he was motivated to open the coffee shop so early Thursday to root on the Golden Knights in Game 5.
Season ticket holder Green attended Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 and Game 4 at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C.. He said the team has unified Las Vegas and fans are backing the first-year expansion franchise to get them to Game 6.
“We really love our team,” Green said.
Here’s the early-morning chant — with a Channel 8 crew in the house.
LVSportsBiz.com will be heading to T-Mobile Arena later for more game day coverage. Look for LVSportsBiz.com photographer Daniel Clark’s work , too, later.
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