By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
A hockey player by the name of Max Pacioretty blew into town and Las Vegas was ready.
His digital image loomed large on the marquee boards of MGM Resorts International hotel-casinos such as Aria, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio and MGM Grand on the Strip Wednesday. Even Caesars Palace’s marquee board showed Pacioretty in this Vegas Golden Knights Facebook photo.
And 15 miles to the west in the Vegas Golden Knights training center and team store in City National Arena, his number 67 jersey was already hanging on the retail wall.
“We had custom Pacioretty jerseys made and ready to be sold at The Arsenal (team store at City National Arena) as soon as we found out he was going to keep number 67,” VGK Chief Marketing Officer Brian Killingsworth said.
“We had many fans show up at the Arsenal just to buy his jersey and be one of the first to own a Pacioretty jersey,” Killingsworth said.
Pacioretty, an established goal-scorer known for his skating and defensive skills too, practiced with his new Golden Knights teammates at City National Arena and met the Las Vegas media for the first time Wednesday.
From a business standpoint, the Knights are all in with acquiring Pacioretty and signing him to a four-year, $28 million extension. The Las Vegas franchise swapped forward Tomas Tatar, impressive prospect Nick Suzuki and a second round draft pick from Columbus for Pacioretty.
In the Arsenal team store at City National Arena, the Pacioretty jersey hung between the number 29 jersey of star goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and the number 71 jersey of star forward William Karlsson, who blossomed into one of the NHL’s top stars in 2017-18 when he went from six goals for Columbus to 43 with the VGK.
Another new Knights player expected to team with Pacioretty on a line, Paul Stastny, has his number 26 jersey on the retail wall as well.
The Golden Knights’ additions of Pacioretty and Stastny help replace the void left by the departure of top offensive forwards James Neal and David Perron.
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Pacioretty is seen as the major new addition. The former Connecticut product came into the NHL in 2008 with the Montreal Canadiens and scored 226 goals for Montreal, including scoring at least 30 goals or more in five seasons.
LVSportsBiz.com will be providing more coverage of Golden Knights hockey this week, so please check back.
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