Pair push Saskatchewan to adopt Vegas as its NHL team

SASKATOON — Greg Moore and Justin Reves made videos, visited Las Vegas and personally implored Saskatchewan’s new premier to hear them out.

It’s time, they say, for Saskatchewan to officially adopt the Vegas Golden Knights as their province’s NHL team — because, well, why not?

“We can’t cheer for Winnipeg — we’re from Saskatchewan,” Moore said Tuesday. “Edmonton’s terrible. Calgary needs a new stadium. So why not pick Vegas? And at the time of the video filming, it was cheaper for us to fly to Vegas than it was Winnipeg, Calgary or Edmonton. This just makes a lot of sense.”

Moore and Reves are digital-savvy Reginans — “It makes me throw up a little bit to say this, but the common term would be social-media influencers,” Reves said — and last year, they hit on the idea of adopting the Golden Knights.

It started with their love of the team’s colourful Twitter feed, which led to a fact-finding trip to Vegas and featured a live Facebook interview with Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe.

“He wasn’t for or against the idea. We said, ‘Hey, he didn’t say no! Let’s keep going!’” Moore said.

The duo’s initial video, filmed in front of the Saskatchewan legislature, outlined why Saskatchewan should adopt the Golden Knights. They say it’s had more than 100,000 views on social media.

Reves said Canada’s NHL teams already have deep-rooted followings, and making a trip to Winnipeg or Edmonton provides little reprieve from Saskatchewan’s cold winters.

“And these other markets — Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal — they frankly all turn their noses up at Saskatchewan,” Reves said. “We know that they do. Whereas, we’ve found the people of Vegas, there’s no noseturning-up, because they have no idea where Saskatchewan is until you explain it to them.”