Betting on ice in the desert

NHL looks to elbow its way into Vegas

The reality of the NHL’s planned move to Las Vegas will hit home for hockey fan Sean Bollig once he finally sees ice on the floor at the new T-Mobile arena just off the Strip and he’s able to buy a jersey for its fledgling home team.

“Having a team will be awesome,” said Bollig, a 28-year-old recreation league hockey player. “It’s going to bring in a lot of the locals.”

California resident and Los Angeles Kings season-ticket holder Jim Altier said he’s already lining up friends to head to Las Vegas for hockey. For 12 years, he has done the same when the Kings play exhibition games at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“We’ll definitely be there,” Altier said from Ontario, a more than three-hour drive away. “And we’ll bring others with us.”

Excitement is high among hockey fans and civic boosters, with the NHL poised to finalize plans to expand to Las Vegas.

Numerous reports say the league has settled on Las Vegas as the home for its next expansion franchise, provided organizers can come up with a $500 million fee. Details on the league’s plans for expansion will be released by the NHL ahead of its Board of Governors meeting Wednesday in Las Vegas.

In Las Vegas, hockey will have to elbow into an entertainment lineup featuring casinos, celebrity shows, Cirque du Soleil productions and pulsing nightclubs — not to mention boxing matches, UFC fights and events like NASCAR, the National Finals Rodeo and Electric Daisy Carnival.

Backers are banking on fans from Montreal, Minnesota, Winnipeg and Washington packing their souvenir jerseys for mid-winter trips to see their teams in Las Vegas, which is expected to begin play in the 201718 season.