No Stranger To Las Vegas, National Hockey League Hits Sin City With Awards, Draft
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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Road intersection east of the Strip.
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The National Hockey League has always enjoyed staging events in Las Vegas.
The league held its annual awards gala at the Fountainebleau Thursday night and is poised Friday an Saturday to hold the first sports-theme at The Sphere, which is primarily a music venue.
The NHL last held the awards show in Las Vegas in 2019.
But ever since NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman changed his mind about sports betting and supported the league approving an expansion franchise for the 2017-18 season, the Lords of Hockey have enjoyed their stays in Las Vegas.
The brothers responsible for selling Las Vegas to Bettman were the Maloofs. Joe and Gavin Maloof, founding partners of the Vegas Golden Knights before they sold their financial stakes in the NHL team, traveled to New York to lobby Bettman about Las Vegas.
At the time, the Maloof Boys were partnering with the face of the VGK ownership — Bill Foley — to get an expansion team for Las Vegas.
The NHL is not the only league or sports organization to hold its awards show in Las Vegas. The National Football League held its awards event during Super Bowl week in February, while NASCAR has staged awards show in Las Vegas in the past.
