By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The server was carrying a tray of one-inch-square reuben sandwich bites and Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch, a 23-year-old looking dapper in white pants and a blazer, snapped up a reuben square and threw it down his throat.
He savored the taste at Wolfgang Puck Players Locker restaurant in Downtown Summerlin, where Tuch is one of five VGK players who have invested in rebranding the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill into the Wolfgang Puck Players Locker that celebrated its grand opening Monday night a mere 24 hours after VGK defeated the Anaheim Ducks in a wild 6-5 overtime win.
Puck was there along with Tuch and his fellow restaurant investors — VGK mates Reilly Smith, Deryk Engelland, Shea Theodore and William Karlsson.
Of the five hockey players, it was the young Tuch who is the one most engaged with the business that opened in late January for a soft opening after a three-week remodeling that includes the restaurant’s signature 100 custom glass liquor lockers and 18 TV screens showing — what else? — NHL games.
Tuch told LVSportsBiz.com tonight that he came up with the customer locker idea based on what he saw at the Capital Grille wine lockers.
Tuch said the restaurant concept was based on having a fun, hockey-first sports bar feel with high-quality food that Puck would fashion. There’s a casual, comfort-food feel to the offerings like deep-dish pizza, sliders and cheese curds.
Karlsson, fresh off a hat trick in Anaheim a night ago, said he envisioned a restaurant where Golden Knights fans can go to watch VGK games on the screens with a high-end sports bar feel.
“And it’s close to baseball, too,” Karlsson said of the Las Vegas Aviators’ baseball park a short walk away in Downtown Summerlin.
Tuch said it took about nine months to work on the concept and recruit his teammates to be business partners, too.
“I would never steer my teammates wrong,” he said tonight. “I personally believe in this.”
Tuch said he talked with another restaurant guy — Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, who owns several restaurant concepts including the MacKenzie River Pizza at the nearby Knights’ training center next to the ballpark.
Here’s Karlsson chatting with friends.
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