Who Knew Summerlin Was A Major League Sports Hub? This Morning, NHL, MLB Collide In Las Vegas Suburb
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Only seven years ago in Las Vegas’ western affluent suburb of Summerlin, what was called Downtown Summerlin 12 miles off the Strip were metal skeletons of building construction halted because of a sluggish economy.
But today on March 1, not only was Downtown Summerlin thriving but major leaguers from the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball were practicing side-by-side in impressive sports facilities separated by literally a few feet in this suburban business development.
It was 11:04 a.m. Sunday at City National Arena, and Vegas Golden Knights defensemen Deryk Engelland and Jon Merrill were taking slapshots against new goalie Robin Lehner, fresh off a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Lehner’s VGK debut two days ago.
Ten minutes later, Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer was meeting the media, telling them that star forward Mark Stone was week-to-week with a lower body injury but that surgery would not be needed and that he hoped Stone would be ready to go by the end of the season in a month.
Meanwhile in the palatial minor league ballpark next door, the Oakland Athletics players were taking batting practice, with A’s stars like third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Marcus Semien in the starting lineup for a spring training game with the Cleveland Indians as part of Big League Weekend, which is put together by the Howard Hughes Corp.-owned Las Vegas Aviators and the local tourism agency, the LVCVA.
Only the day before on Saturday, an announced crowd of 8,159 watched the Indians and Athletics play at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Next weekend is Big League Weekend 2 with capacity crowds expected for the Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds spring training games at the impressive, amenity-packed ballpark that has a capacity of a little more than 10,000 fans.
I asked Golden Knights forward Nic Roy after practice if he would stop by the ballpark next-door for the 1 p.m. Indians-A’s game before he plays in tonight’s VGK vs Los Angeles Kings game at T-Mobile Arena at 7:30 p.m.
“Maybe I’ll take a look, but I can’t stay for the whole game. I need to take my nap,” Roy said of the NHL players’ tradition of getting some nap time in before a game.
Fellow forward Ryan Reaves said he’s “not a baseball guy” so he won’t be checking out the baseball game. He did note that representatives for his 7Five craft beer company did talk to the ballpark next-door about selling his beer there (the Las Vegas Aviators do have beer night on Thursdays), but that they couldn’t work out a beer vending deal.
Meanwhile, while the A’s players were taking practice swings.
At the hockey practice center, VGK defenseman Alec Martinez chatted about playing his old team, the Kings, tonight.
The first pitch for the A’s vs Indians was about 1:07 p.m.
And the Golden Knights players headed home for their mid-afternoon naps for tonight’s 7:30 p.m. game.
But on a late Sunday morning on the first of March, hockey and baseball big leaguers played in side-by-side buildings.
Last week’s Golden Knights Foundation fund-raiser called a “Knight to Remember” at the Wynn Las Vegas hit the jackpot raising $1.67 million.
And on Saturday, thousands of VGK fans hit the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center for the Golden Knights annual FanFest event.
LVSportsBiz.com returns tonight to our “Top of the Escalator” pre-game segment that starts when the arena doors open at 6:15 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m. game.
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