Golden Knights Flag Man Part of Cast of VGK Characters; Knights Lose 4-2 to Wild During Matinee; VGK D-man Brad Hunt Traded to Minnesota

 

By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com

 

Every team has its superfans, regular Joes and Janes who change into Superheroes of the Night when rooting for their home teams.

 

The Vegas Golden Knights just seem to have more of these zany characters — from retired Air Force airman Jason Griego who is the Wolverine and Christopher Green who is a common sight on the T-Mobile Arena center videoboard to Rick Williams and his canine buddy Bark Andre Flurry, a Jack Russell celebrity dog that inspired Williams to sell stuffed toys looking like Bark for $24.95 retail.

 

Oh believe me, there’s more of these superfans roaming T-Mobile Arena before VGK home games and City National Arena, the Golden Knights’ training center/headquarters in Summerlin.

 

And a superfan who doesn’t have a super costume but a super prop is Matt Helfst, a 33-year-old Las Vegan who brings his trusty Golden Knights flag to every VGK home game and waves it in front of the outdoor screen that shows the VGK home hockey games outside the arena on the plaza.

 

While 18,000 plus fans pile into the Big Ice House on the Strip, Helfst stays outside with his gold and black Golden Knights flag — a major accomplishment Monday for a 3 p.m. Golden Knights-Minnesota Wild game when strong winds were whipping Helfst’s beloved flag.

 

Helfst does have a job. He says he’s a website administrator for a chess website, called, simply, www.chess.com.

 

*

 

The D hotel-casino owner Derek Stevens, a big Golden Knights fan and sponsor, gave a $100,000 check before the game to the Golden Knights Foundation for the Lil’ Knights youth hockey program.

ADVERTISEMENT

 

*

 

A big crowd of 18,326 was announced and fans watched the Golden Knights lose to the Wild, 4-2, at the 3 p.m. matinee game on Martin Luther King Day. Return for more updates.

 

Coach Gerard Gallant was disappointed with the team’s effort and said the squad didn’t appear ready to play for the 3 p.m. start Monday. Gallant’s post-game press conference lasted two minutes and 30 seconds. He’s not too chatty after losses.

 

Here’s our question and Gallant’s response:

 

LVSportsBiz.com caught up with defenseman Colin Miller at his locker after the loss.

*

 

The Golden Knights sent out a press release saying defenseman Brad Hunt and a sixth round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft have been traded to Minnesota for a fifth round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and Washington’s 2019 fifth round pick (previously acquired by Minnesota). Hunt is a super nice guy and LVSportsBiz saw Hunt tonight during the VGK-Wild game in the press ledge at T-Mobile Arena. Hunt shook my hand and gave his trademark big smile. He’s a super nice guy, a talented offensive defenseman with a nice shot and hopefully will see more NHL ice time with the Wild than he did with the Golden Knights. I wish him well. Go get ’em Brad.

 

*   

 

Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com publisher/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com if you want to buy his new book, Long Road Back to Las Vegas.