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Golden Knights' Creation Of Wait List Latest Sign Of "Best Home-Ice Advantage"

The Golden Knights are "starting a waiting list for fans who want to buy season tickets and all they need to do is make a deposit that starts as low as $100," according to Alan Snel of LVSPORTSBIZ.com. The team currently has "about 14,000 season ticket holders" and is "looking to allow more to join the ticket holder ranks" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 1/3). In Las Vegas, Ray Brewer notes the Golden Knights -- with a record of 27-9-2 this season -- are "historically good for an expansion franchise" and have the "best home-ice advantage in the league." A 17-2-1 home record has led to "hopes of a long postseason run." Golden Knights' home games have "become the story of the NHL season" as the energy inside T-Mobile Arena compares to "how bonkers fans were at the Thomas & Mack Center for the peak" of the UNLV men's basketball dynasty. The noise and anticipation of the Golden Knights' pregame hype video mirrors "that of UNLV’s fireworks show back in the day." There is "wild celebration" and a "constant chorus of 'Go Knights, Go'" after each goal scored. Las Vegans "love their team." There is "such momentum for this team around town -- everything from standing-room-only practices in their Summerlin facility to reports of myriad children receiving Golden Knights gear for holiday gifts -- that management would be crazy to break up the team." The Golden Knights' front office should "add" to this team and "fight and claw to bring a championship" to Las Vegas (LAS VEGAS SUN, 1/3).

BUYERS, NOT SELLERS: In Las Vegas, David Schoen notes Golden Knights C Jonathan Marchessault yesterday signed a six-year, $30M contract extension. Marchessault was "set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1." The signing is the "latest indication" the Golden Knights are "keeping key pieces" that have led to their historic start (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 1/3). In Las Vegas, Ed Graney wrote under the header, "Memo To Golden Knights Brass: Go For It With All You Have." Golden Knights GM George McPhee "needs to go for this thing and leave any thoughts of the future tucked away." The Golden Knights to this point have "defied a preseason forecast of typical expansion doom and gloom, rushing past most opponents to the best start" in NHL history for a first-year team and "engaging a community in incomprehensible and thrilling and emotional and remarkable ways." Nobody could have "predicted how this team and town would so effortlessly connect." Golden Knights G Marc-Andre Fleury said of playing at T-Mobile Arena, “Every night is fun to play here. (The crowd) gives us a little boost. It’s so loud and people get so excited and it’s a good thing, the support they have given us” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 1/3). HOCKEY NEWS' Jared Clinton wrote with the position the Golden Knights are in, and the "position it appears they’ll be in" as the trade deadline approaches, it is "difficult to imagine a scenario" in which key veteran players are shipped out for futures. That is because it "looks like the future for the franchise is much more immediate than anyone would have expected." McPhee "should buy." The decision facing McPhee "shouldn’t even really be if he should add at the deadline, but where he should make those additions." The things the Golden Knights need "aren’t going to cost them the top assets and futures that they so desperately sought through the expansion draft and off-season" (HOCKEYNEWS.com, 1/3).

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