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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
After the NFL Raiders took away Las Vegas’s breath with a thrilling overtime win a mile and a half away from T-Mobile Arena, the Vegas Golden Knights renewed a September rite from years ago it seems by hitting the ice for their first preseason game of the 2021-22 season.
After two consecutive NHL semifinal appearances that ended with disappointing losses to Dallas in the Edmonton pandemic bubble in 2020 and to Montreal after the condensed 56-game regular season, the Golden Knights said goodbye to fan favorites Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Reaves and welcomed a host of newcomers that fans will have to get to know.
Even though it’s a preseason game, the Golden Knights roll out its loud, over-the-top, pre-game entertainment routine complete with familiar faces like Mark Shunock as emcee (fresh off his emcee work at the Raiders game), Carnell “Golden Pipes” Johnson on anthem duty, Bruce Cusick as arena announcer and mascot character actor Clint McComb as “Chance.”
These preseason games function like scrimmages, but the fans enjoyed the trappings of the Golden Knights game experience like the John Wick Mode intro music that has been a mainstay since Year 1 in 2017 under the guidance of the franchise’s first in-game entertainment chief, Jonny Greco. He’s now working for the new Seattle Kraken team, the NHL’s 32nd club.
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The Vegas Golden Knights posted these photos on their Twitter account to give you a taste of the first home preseason game.
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The Golden Knights also rolled out starters like Shea Theodore, Mark Stone, Chandler Stephenson, Max Pacioretty and Zach Whitecloud, while starting goalie Robin Lehner was not in the lineup.
Also, young guys like Peyton Krebs, Nolan Patrick (recently signed to a two-year deal worth $1.2 million a year) and Brett Howden also saw time, while vets like Evgenii Dadonov and Mattias Janmark also had ice time.
But for now, we will be seeing the 29s around the arena for a while, I suspect.
For the record, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Knights, 4-2. The VGK’s next preseason game is Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena.
Bye from the Big Ice House by the Strip.
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