The Golden Knights on Friday play their first regular-season game in franchise history against the Stars in Dallas, already a "historic event two years in the making" that took on "added meaning this week" after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, according to Jesse Granger of the LAS VEGAS SUN. When the puck drops on Friday it will be "less than five days since" the shooting Sunday night. Golden Knights D Jon Merrill said, "Every time we step on the ice now we are going to be playing for all of the people affected by this terrible tragedy, and we are going to do the best we can every time we’re out there to make people proud of Las Vegas." Sports "can heal, even if only for the few hours the game is going on as a distraction." Competition can have the "same healing effect on the players" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 10/6). In Las Vegas, Alan Snel wrote the Golden Knights’ goal for Tuesday night's home opener at T-Mobile Arena is to "create a balance between the community’s need to heal and the historic nature" of the franchise’s first home game. Golden Knights D Deryk Engelland said, "Lots of people will be able to shut down for a couple of hours when the news is not on. People can turn their brains off and enjoy a positive atmosphere. ... Words can’t describe what happened. We have to do what we can do" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 10/4).
SET UP FOR SUCCESS: In Las Vegas, Steve Carp notes the Golden Knights have had "every opportunity to put a competitive team on the ice." The NHL gave the expansion franchise, which paid a record $500M fee to join in '16, an "extra year to prepare and get its hockey operations and business staffs together." The league provided the "largest player pool ever for the team to select from in the expansion draft," and the Golden Knights had the No. 6 pick in the entry draft. They were also "allowed to make side deals to acquire other players and/or future draft picks." Of the last eight NHL expansion teams, "none produced a winning record in the first 10 games." But the Golden Knights are "buoyed by a schedule that appears set up for early success." Of the team’s first 10 games, seven will be at T-Mobile Arena (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 10/6).
FLYING OFF THE SHELVES: RACKED's Noah Davis noted the "real opportunity for an unending source of customers" for the Golden Knights "exists in tourism." Every year, 42 million people "visit Sin City." Golden Knights Owner Bill Foley last year said, "If there are 42 million people coming through and I can’t sell 100,000 jerseys a year, I’m a failure." That would amount to $18M in "jersey sales alone." That is "not pure profit, and the Golden Knights wouldn't take it all home themselves," but it is a "fair bet that a significant percentage of the profit goes directly" into the franchise's coffers. At the team's practice facility opening last month, Foley said that he was "pleased with the early returns." Foley: "We're the number-one-selling paraphernalia out of the NHL Store in New York. We're selling merchandise like crazy out of the team store down here and in downtown. We budgeted about $4 million the first year. I'm very confident that we'll greatly exceed that. It's not like TV or sponsorship or game-day sales, but it's important. It's how the team makes money" (RACKED.com, 10/4).
