More than 10,000 hockey fans stormed the D Las Vegas in Fremont Street Experience to attend the first-ever Vegas Golden Knights Fan Fest celebration on Sunday, January 14. The electrifying event was held as part of the team’s exclusive downtown partnership with the D Las Vegas, and offered hockey buffs the chance to see get up close and personal with their favorite players.
Vegas Golden Knights players were joined by Chairman and CEO Bill Foley, Head Coach Gerard Gallant, and Vegas Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz as the group walked the red carpet, signed autographs and took photos with excited supporters. the D Las Vegas’ CEO Derek Stevens welcomed guests as the festivities commenced in front of the Third Street Stage. In a daring display, the team’s mascot, Chance, flew high above the crowd on the SlotZilla Zipline while excited spectators watched from below.
Addressing the crowd, Foley credited the team’s success to their loyal and growing fan base.
“This is so impressive,” Foley said. “The team feeds off all of you just as the town feeds off the team. I’m so proud of the team, and I’m so proud of Las Vegas for supporting this great franchise.”
The public party was hosted by the team’s play-by-play and color broadcasters on AT&T SportsNet, Dave Goucher and Shane Hnidy, who introduced the 2018 lineup as each player took the stage and tossed t-shirts as fans cheered. The event included appearances from the entire team, including: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Carpenter, William Carrier, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, William Karlsson, Brendan Leipsic, Oscar Lindberg, Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Tomas Nosek, David Perron, Reilly Smith, Alex Tuch, Deryk Engelland, Brad Hunt, Brayden McNabb, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller, Luca Sbisa, Nate Schmidt, Reid Duke, Shea Theodore, Oscar Dansk, Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban.
Keeping the energy high through the event, the VGK promo team and ice crew passed out special league memorabilia to lucky fans in the audience. A large, inflatable team jersey stood near a truck where fans lined up to buy official gear and younger fans could play an inflatable shootout game.
