Golden Knights helping Vegas cope
Home opener a cathartic moment shared by all as part of healing process
LAS VEGAS— A few blocks from T-Mobile Arena, where the Vegas Golden Knights played the first home game of their first NHL season, a sign was affixed to a fence bordering Las Vegas Village, where 58 concertgoers were killed and about 500 were injured by a barrage of bullets fired by Stephen Paddock on Oct. 1.
Surrounded by bouquets of flowers and single red roses, the sign proclaimed, “Humanity Always Wins. Inspire LVE.” Among the scrawled words of thanks and encouragement, one neatly printed message stood out: “Andrea Castilla always in our heart,” in honour of the Huntington Beach, Calif., resident and aspiring makeup artist who was killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
Castilla’s name was among those projected onto the ice Tuesday night during a stirring pre-game ceremony staged by the Golden Knights.
That they defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 in front of an overflow crowd of 18,191 and became the first NHL expansion team to win its first three games was secondary to their success in turning the occasion into a cathartic shared moment that strengthened the bonds already forged through tears and tragedy.
“It was a terrible event and we’re here to help the healing. If we can help in any way, that’s what we’re going to do,” said defenceman Brayden McNabb, who was claimed by the Golden Knights from the Los Angeles Kings in the expansion draft. “We want to play well for our city. If we can take their minds off what happened, that’s amazing.”
Discarding initial plans for a celebration of the NHL’s arrival here, the Golden Knights produced a respectful and touching tribute that properly acknowledged the real heroes aren’t athletes but the nurses, doctors, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, firefighters and police officers who were on duty that awful night.
Instead of standard introductions, each Golden Knight stepped to the ice paired with a first responder, most of whom wore their scrubs or duty uniform. All were loudly applauded.
A video featuring messages from the captains of the other 30 NHL teams was played on the scoreboard.
Most affecting was the 58-second moment of silence and the appearance of each name on the ice.
Golden Knights defenceman Deryk Engelland, who has lived in Las Vegas for more than a decade, addressed the crowd before the game.
After thanking the first responders, he added “to the families and friends of the victims, know that we’ll do everything we can to help you and our city heal. We are Vegas strong.”
The Golden Knights are selling Tshirts with that slogan and donating the net proceeds to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Foundation; team owner Bill Foley, the NHL and the Golden Knights’ top farm team, the Chicago Wolves, have made sizable donations to relief efforts.