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// JULY 2023 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM
Las Vegas
A few blocks south of where the parade route made a sharp right
turn stood the site of one of the nation's darkest moments, where on
Oct. 1, 2017, only nine days before the Golden Knights' first NHL home
game, a gunman shot and killed 60 people during the Route 91 Harvest
music festival.
The memory is still fresh in the hearts and minds of both local res-
idents and the team that has been embraced as much for its winning
ways as its outreach into the community. As players, coaches and staff
gathered with hockey's holy grail on the stage, a banner displaying the
names of the 60 victims from that fateful night hung overhead.
For the team born in tragedy, it was both a time of joyous celebration
and solemn remembrance.
In six short years, the first professional sports team to call Las Vegas
home has become as much a part of the fabric of the community as
roulette wheels and all-you-can-eat buffets. Along the way its core
group of players who once referred to themselves as "The Misfits"
have become as well-known as local celebrities like Wayne Newton
and the Blue Man Group.
"It's been unbelievable the way the town has adopted this team.
We're part of the community now," Golden Knights owner Bill Foley
told USA Hockey Magazine several years ago. "I'm particularly proud
of how our players and our team have integrated themselves into the
community. That's part of our success."
PHOTOS BY Getty Images
More than 200,000
people attended
the Golden Knights
championship
parade on June 17.
V I D E O
Looking back at the Vegas Golden Knights journey to the
2023 Stanley Cup.
