By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The Henderson Silver Knights as the name of the VGK’s Triple A minor league team was not exactly a mystery or surprise when the Las Vegas-based NHL team unveiled its AHL affiliate’s name Thursday night.
In fact, the promotional digital trucks were ready to roll from City National Arena tonight. Take a look.
Less than two weeks ago, the Golden Knights took care of their minor league team arena by partnering with the city of Henderson, which is using $42 million in public money to help provide the venue where the VGK’s new minor league team will play.
Then, the Knights partnered with local TV station Channel 3, an NBC affiliate, to announce the news of the American Hockey League team’s name and logo during an hour-long show on Channel 3 that began at 7 p.m. The Knights’ own Daren Millard and Gary Lawless hosted the “reveal” announcement on TV and various social media platforms. The Knights’ majority owner, Bill Foley, was also part of the show and announced the team name. Here’s a summary of the timeline.
People were expecting Henderson Silver Knights as the team’s name and that’s what the “historic announcement” revealed, with a silver warhorse as the logo. The horse has gold eyes, representing the Silver Knights’ players’ desire to make it to the big club, the Golden Knights.
Here’s the VGK explanation behind the Silver Knights’ logo”
“It’s as powerful as the Golden Knights logo,” Foley said on the TV show. He also liked Henderson. “It’s a family deal. Families can go . . . and it’s affordable.”
The TV announcement show itself had four sponsors, showing the Golden Knights’ popularity during a pandemic crisis that ended the NHL regular season. Now the three-year-old NHL team heads into a 24-team playoff format that will likely start in mid-summer. Two NHL cities will host the playoffs in each of the two conferences, with Las Vegas among 10 teams vying to be a NHL playoff host hub.
The Silver Knights will begin play at the Orleans Arena while the city of Henderson turns the Henderson Pavilion into a 6,000-seat arena. The AHL team will be based at the Golden Knights’ new community ice center called Lifeguard Arena at 240 South Street in Henderson. The American Hockey League is like the Triple A of professional hockey, the highest ladder step before players make it to the NHL club.
At a Henderson City Council meeting May 19 when the city’s governing board voted, 4-1, to pay $42 million toward the $84 million venue rehab project, a majority of the comments read into the public record opposed the city paying public dollars to renovate the pavilion to house the VGK’s AHL club. The opponents said public money should not be used, it was the wrong location and there should be a public vote on the pavilion-arena project.
The Knights will like having their minor league team in their back yard in Las Vegas because there will be no more trips and flights for players to Chicago and back to Las Vegas.
Foley said Silver Knights tickets will start at 10 bucks in Henderson and there will be no $25 hot dogs, only $4 or $5 hot dogs at the AHL Henderson games.
Naturally, the Golden Knights will sell merchandise of its AHL affiliate. They know how to sell merch, as the VGK licensed logo gear and VGK sweaters are among the biggest sellers in the NHL
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