By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
On Oct. 1, 2017 a gunman killed 60 people who attended a country music festival on the Strip and four and half months later another mass shooting left America in pain and anguish again. This time, a 19-year-old man walked into his former high school in suburban Fort Lauderdale and killed 17 on Feb. 14, 2018, making it the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Less than two weeks after that Florida school shooting, I walked into the Vegas Golden Knights locker room at the team’s training center and HQ in Summerlin and spoke to the one player who was willing to step up and speak out about America’s haunting trend of so many mass shootings in every corner of the country.
That VGK player was Jon Merrill, a strapping American-born defenseman with the intellect, empathy and backbone to say something that had to be said publicly.
“As an American, when will enough be enough? Why do we have to go through these things? Why are these weapons for everyone? I don’t have the answers. It’s so frustrating,” Merrill told me.
NHL players are not known for speaking out on social problems like racial strife and societal violence topics like mass shootings.
But Merrill was different.
He repeated his question: “When will enough be enough?”
Today Las Vegas learned that Merrill, 28, will no longer be a Golden Knights player.
So many VGK fans were saddened. Many media members, who liked Merrill, were also bummed to hear the man with the mullet would not be around to offer heartfelt comments.
The original VGKer signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, playing in a city that is not too far away from where he played college hockey in Ann Arbor for the University of Michigan.
The fact was Merrill, who received game assignments from former Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant, was not among VGK coach Pete DeBoer’s top six game defensemen. He joined Deryk Engelland as a back-up defenseman and a scratch.
Under Gallant, Merrill even drew a rare game assignment as a forward in a Jan. 2, 2020 game between VGK and the Philadelphia Flyers. .
Merrill, known for his easy smile, enjoyed playing that game as a winger. He even scored a goal in the VGK 5-4 win over the Flyers.
But next season, the six-foot, four-inch man with a mullet will be a Red Wings blueliner.
On Media Day for the 2018 Stanley Cup Final between the Knights and Washington Capitals, I asked Merrill if he would take the Stanley Cup on a victory lap on the Red Rock scenic drive in Red Rock Canyon outside Summerlin if the VGK won the NHL title.
Merrill enjoyed hiking in Red Rock Canyon and said having the Cup there would make a great photo opportunity.
“I would sit there by myself and reminisce on the season. It’s a peaceful place and keeps you centered and a good place to let everything sink in,” Merrill observed.
And in years past, Merrill even offered his comments on the high prices of playoff tickets.
A day or two after the Golden Knights home-opener Oct. 2, 2019, I asked Merrill about Jonathan Marchessault short-pants suit. Perhaps you recall Marchessault’s fashion statement.
Merrill smiled, laughed and goofed about Marchessault’s unique home-opener clothing selection for the walk into the arena.
That’s Jonny Merrill. He will be remembered for his touching reunion with his three daughters after returning home to Las Vegas after the Knights were eliminated by Dallas in the NHL Bubble in Edmonton in the Western Conference Finals.
He could be fun-loving, thoughtful, introspective, serious and goofy.
Las Vegas will miss him.
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