‘It Feels Like a Playoff Game and It’s Our First Exhibition Game’
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
There’s no such thing as “it’s only an exhibition game” when it comes to the Golden Knights in Las Vegas.
The giant, red-glowing helmet descended from the T-Mobile Arena rafters to the ice surface and the Golden Knights players came skating through the uber prop before the VGK’s first preseason game with the Arizona Coyotes.
VGK star forward Jonathan Marchessault registered a goal a mere 16 seconds into the contest.
And the announced crowd was a stunning 17,567 — for an exhibition game. That’s remarkable when you consider the Golden Knights consider T-Mobile Arena capacity at 17,367, 200 less than Sunday’s 5 p.m. game crowd that enjoyed the VGK 7-2 win over the Coyotes.
“Seriously, it’s incredible, to have that many people in the building tonight for an exhibition game, your first exhibition game,” VGK coach Gerard Gallant told the media after the game.
“Some of our new players after the first period that this was unbelievable, it feels like a playoff game and it’s our first exhibition game,” Gallant said. “It’s incredible and the support is unbelievable and it makes you want to play in this building.”
The pregame ceremony/show triggered goosebump memories as Golden Knights fans welcomed their team back to the ice 3 1/2 months after the Washington Capitals clinched the Stanley Cup in Game 5 in early June.
It was triple-digit heat on the Strip, but it didn’t stop VGK fans from arriving in their steel gray Golden Knights jerseys with “Fleury,” “Karlsson,” “Schmidt,” and “Engelland” on the back.
White it was reunion for many Golden Knights fans, it was a first time experience for the Golden Knights’ recent trade acquisition, Max Pacioretty, who was blown away by the T-Mobile Arena atmosphere for a preseason game.
“Like I said you can feel this atmosphere as soon as we came and started camp,” Pacioretty said after the game. “Then we come out for the game and the crowd was just ridiculous, it was like the playoffs, it was unbelievable. I still have the goosebumps.”
It was the first home preseason game so there were a few bugs to work out around the arena. For example, the game day posters with the players listed on the back included the wrong date for the game, saying it was Sept. 18 instead of Sept. 16.
In the upper bowl, a fan reported a concession counter was not accepting cash except for only one cash register. “If you’re trying to pay cash, you’re just standing there waiting and waiting because there are no signs that communicated it to people.” Plus, the beer vendor, according to the fan, said small beers were no longer on the menu and the only other option was the $14 beer. The fan said it was disorganized.
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