Midway through the eighth training camp in Golden Knights history and there are signs everywhere pointing to how deep hockey roots in Vegas have taken hold.
Friday night the Golden Knights defeated the Utah Hockey Club 5-2 in an NHL preseason game before a crowd of 17,561 at T-Mobile Arena.
The house was mostly full and the crowd was into the game. And they stayed until the end. This doesn’t happen everywhere in the NHL and this kind of turnout for a preseason game is enviable.
Saturday morning at 7 a.m. local rinks were already buzzing with kids practicing. The roster in Vegas is full. NHL, AHL, junior hockey, sled hockey, boys and girls travel teams, high school hockey, house leagues as well as learn to skate and play programs.
Tanner and Tanner: NHL veteran Tanner Pearson is in Vegas on PTO (professional tryout) and 27-year-old Tanner Laczynski signed a two-year free agent deal this offseason.
Both came into training camp fighting for a spot on the Golden Knights roster and their fine play has developed into the story of training camp.
Through three games, Laczynski is tied for the team lead in preseason scoring with three points. Pearson is right behind him with two points. Pearson leads Vegas with a +4 rating.
The job of a player trying to earn a spot on the team is to make it hard for the GM and coach to imagine the lineup without said player. Both Tanners have accomplished this so far in camp.