COVID-19 and Sports: Fans Attend Henderson Silver Knights Game For First Time Saturday
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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell of LVSportsBiz.com
The new minor league hockey team in the Las Vegas market with the popular town crier character, the horse head on the front of the jersey and a team off to a flying start with 11 wins in its first 13 games added a new feature at Orleans Arena Saturday.
Fans.
For the first time in its young history, the Henderson Silver Knights hosted fans — about 1,500-1,600 HSK fans in a venue that holds just another 8,000 for hockey.
The Henderson Silver Knights are the American Hockey League affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. The Silver Knights are based in Henderson in a new downtown ice center, while a new 6,000-seat arena is being built at the site of the Henderson Pavilion about seven miles away from the downtown Henderson ice center on Water Street.
The Silver Knights are using the Orleans Arena as a temporary home while the Henderson Event Center is being constructed.
The Silver Knights have already had several players like forward Patrick Brown and goalie Logan Thompson (above) see playing time with the Golden Knights. The Golden Knights’ former minor league team used to be in Chicago before VGK owner Bill Foley bought the San Antonio franchise and moved it to Henderson.
It’s a big deal to have fans here for the Silver Knights vs. San Jose Barracuda AHL game because they represent the Las Vegas market coming back to life after a worldwide novel coronavirus pandemic led to the Strip’s gamed hotel-casinos being shuttered in April and May in 2020. At the Silver Knights game, fans must wear a mask at all times (when not eating or drinking), not congregate on the concourse and stay in their seats unless they’re buying merchandise or food.
The Silver Knights had at least three merchandise points of sale and there were lines at all three before the game.
The Vegas Golden Knights are allowed to have 20 percent attendance capacity at T-Mobile Arena in March after they started having home game fans on March 1. The VGK will be asking for more attendance capacity for games in April. VGK President Kerry Bubolz said the team is still figuring out how much capacity to ask for.
The Silver Knights’ in-game entertainment crew has been performing even without fans. The town crier character named Herald, played by Blue Man Group member Marc Roberts, has been a popular Silver Knights feature as Herald blows a horn and screams the name of the goal scorer.
There’s Bojo Ackah the game emcee who also did a similar job for the Las Vegas Lights soccer team of the United Soccer League at Lights home games at downtown Cashman Field.
Vegas Golden Knights game DJ Joe Green was on duty Saturday for the Henderson Silver Knights. Green received musical kudos for playing the Rocky theme when VGK captain Mark Stone and San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl fought in a game at T-Mobile Arena last week.
The Silver Knights’ entertainment experience has the feel of a minor league baseball game. After a Silver Knights goal, there is also a horse’s “neigh” sound over the public address system. The former Las Vegas Wranglers of the East Coast Hockey League used to play in this building. Fans told LVSportsBiz.com that their tickets cost in the $25-$60 range to attend today’s inaugural game with fan attendance.
The Silver Knights’ new mascot also made a debut. It’s a horse character named Lucky. Take a look.
The Silver Knights defeated the Barracuda, 5-2, to win all six games at Orleans Arena this season. Except this win was special — fans saw it in person.
