You know, this is a city that has a lot more
to it than what meets the eye, what meets the glitter and the glam and the
4 and a half mile stretch that they have.
And I’ll tell you this, this city has a lot more to it and it showed the last couple days.
A lot of people say Las Vegas is transient, people don’t know their neighbors, people don’t really connect with each other,
but to see this happening, so proud of the community.
'Vegas Strong' is the message of the city right now.
And as the city’s team, it’s our responsibility to reflect what’s going on here and to try and
and unify people— that’s what this sport does.
So we’re trying to capture that and share it with the city for October 10th.
It’s 58 names and I’ve got side notes next to them— like some of them
if they were there with their daughter, or who is local and things like that.
So, that moment of silence, we’re going to acknowledge those that survived
and we’re going to acknowledge the strength and resiliency
during the pre-game show,
but, those 58 names in gold
on the ice when the house is black
and just, you know there’s— that’s the way you honor them.
You just, you got those names and—
We have a tremendous honor and responsibility to heal Las Vegas
which has not been afforded this opportunity because they’ve never had a professional sports team
and sports galvanizes and unifies communities and people in a way that very few things do.
Thank you so much, I’m so excited to see you guys!
We’re going around to different locations—
E.R.’s, hotels, and first responders.
The people that were affected by this and we’re creating an opening for 1010
that is about the city and about how you unify,
and about being strong and what needs to be conveyed that we’re still together.
What happens on the ice is always paramount—that’s number one
and that’s exciting and we hope we do our best,
but this isn’t about sports,
this is much bigger.
This is important for this community and we want to honor this community—
we want to give them the platform they deserve to honor and celebrate their heroes.
This will be one of the most important things any of us will ever be a part of,
and it’s a tremendous honor.
It’s a small town, but people think of it as a big city.
We are Vegas!
We are Vegas strong.
We are Vegas strong!
Everywhere you look, you see people support Vegas strong
billboards— so you can tell that this city has a ton of support.
We share the facilities here at City National Arena—
it’s the home training center for our NHL team,
but it’s also the home training center for the UNLV hockey program.
We’ll get on the ice every morning before the Knights do, so we jump on the ice around 8 o'clock
and they’re on the ice now, so it’s a unique partnership as far as college hockey goes.
Our kids are pretty lucky to be in this environment every single day.
And it’s just a terrific relationship as we try to build this great game here in Las Vegas.
We’re lucky as an organization to be able to partner with the Knights like that.
Obviously it affected everybody in the community, but it really hit hard with them.
I was at home and I had texted a bunch of people that I knew were at the concert
and unfortunately, I didn’t get a text back from Nick.
Their assistant coach, Nick Robone was tragically injured.
I was there, I was probably 15 yards behind him—
he’s like my right hand man, we do everything together.
I wouldn’t even call him an assistant coach in my book.
I mean, what doesn’t he do? Is the question, you know?
Like,
It was a really long night, hard to fall asleep.
It was hard to wrap your head around things that didn’t really feel real, honestly.
Fortunately, he’s going to be okay.
He’s one of the lucky ones.
You know, it really does hit home when it comes that close.
These young guys, they really are Vegas strong.
They immediately wanted to get right back on the ice—
they have a game tomorrow night against Utah and we’re real proud of 'em.
The first game without him, it’s going to be rough.
You know, Nick and I do everything pre-game together.
We talk everything— in between periods, it’s him and I—
it’s been like that for the 3 years we’ve been together.
On behalf of the organization, we wanted to stop down and say hello.
We know it’s been a tough week with your coach,
and everything that happened on Sunday night with Nick and just the unbelievable tragedy that took place,
but we as an organization— and I think you guys are really a part of that,
we have a unique responsibility now.
Because now we’re a part of recovery.
Stay strong, Vegas is strong and we’re behind you every step of the way.
[Crowd Cheering]
Bare down,
that's it.
3 for 3, fellas, build on the positives!
You don’t know how much it means to me, Nick, Zee, the rest of the staff,
UNLV as a whole, and all the fans there.
[Clapping]
This is kind of our creative wall of inspiration.
We were planning on leading with our brand first.
When you think Vegas, you're like ‘oh you’re going to have slot machines and show girls and…"
It’s like, well, no— this is about the community,
this is about more than the strip.
We want to make sure that the other 2 million people have their say and their take on this.
We are the Knights,
we have the shield logo, the face, the V, what does that mean?
The Knight is noble, strong, fierce, tough, never retreating.
So, we’re going to be bringing our players out of a 25 foot tall helmet,
this will be a golden glow on the inside.
It’s a privilege we have to be a part of introducing this to these people.
And with the events that have happened, it’s even more of a responsibility,
but we were planning on honoring Vegas anyway—
now it’s more important to.
It’s a wall of inspiration, that’s for sure— can’t wait to see it get activated.
Our total contribution between Vegas Golden Knights, Foley Family Charitable Trust, and Chicago Wolves and the NHL
is going to be $500,000.
MGM reached out and they want to activate the Vegas strong messaging
with something like a rally towel, or a sign that we would give out to all fans opening night.
Carley, Erin, and I met this morning just to talk about our team donating
125 tickets for opening night to metro, fire, EMT, and paramedics.
The medical personnel and the survivors all to tie in with the pre-game ceremony.
Alright, well hey, we’re doing something special here— let’s try and lift the spirits.
We definitely need to lift our own at times.
It’s a new beginning for our city after what has happened, I think that it’s going to be a
fresh start for us to hit the reset button a little bit.