Eichel On Skating In Golden Knights Practice For First Time: ‘Emotional Moment’
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
In a Vegas Golden Knights season filled with injuries and COVID-19 issues, the team welcomed a player on the ice at practice this morning who has not seen much of Las Vegas but is expected to help the franchise content.
Jack Eichel, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and two conditional picks in November, skated at City National Arena and answered media questions following artificial disk replacement surgery in November.
Eichel said it was an emotional moment to be skating with his new VGK teammates and compared it to Christmas morning.
The 25-year-old Eichel said he just arrived in Las Vegas yesterday and had time to go to the grocery story.
There is no date set when Eichel will play his first game as a Golden Knights player. He’s expected to be in a full practice Thursday or Friday at City National Arena. The Golden Knights’ two games in Canada this week were postponed because of COVID-19 issues.
It felt amazing. A bit of an emotional moment for me, just another step in the process, but this was like a kid on Christmas waking up this morning getting the opportunity to get back on the ice with the guys. — Jack Eichel
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Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer, back behind the VGK bench after missing action because of NHL COVID-19 protocols, was named an All-Star Game coach for the NHL All-Star Game weekend in Las Vegas Feb. 4-5.
The Knights play Toronto later today at T-Mobile Arena at 7 PM.
