VGK Fans Pack T-Mobile Arena For Four Preseason Game Sellouts; Home-opener Set For Thursday 7PM
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell of LVSportsBiz.com
The Golden Knights ended the preseason Sunday with another rowdy sellout crowd of a stunning 17,958, making it four-for-four in exhibition game sellouts at T-Mobile Arena in September.
The team that packed The Big Icehouse to 104 percent of capacity during its inaugural season is poised to exceed that mark in Season 2 when the regular season home opener brings the Philadelphia Flyers to the Strip Thursday.
Before the game after the arena gates opened, VGK President Kerry Bubolz peered down at the main lobby from his usual perch on the main concourse and was impressed with the zeal, energy and sheer number of fans who came through the doors so early and picked up their free commemorative pucks.
The Knights registered a solid 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks to finish the preseason, 6-1, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 1 mass shooting on the Strip that claimed 58 lives and injured more than 500 others at a country music festival.
LVSportsBiz.com asked coach Gerard Gallant about the emotions that will be evident Monday — Oct. 1 — and during the week leading up to Thursday’s 7 PM home-opener.
Monday will “definitely be a tough day,” Gallant said.
Golden Knights players will be at several locations around the Las Vegas Valley, from a blood donor site at the Las Vegas Convention Center and an ambulance center in Henderson to meeting with workers at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino and first responders at several locations.
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