Bill Foley and George McPhee instilled the belief in the Vegas Golden Knights organization’s staff from day one that building a new franchise takes constant attention and hard work to become a Stanley Cup Champion. From the beginning, women have been an integral part of the group at every level of the organization. Two of the women that are most important in Foley and McPhee’s everyday life are Melanie Leahy and Katy Boettinger.
Leahy is Foley’s Chief of Staff. She started out as an executive assistant for Foley in the Vegas Golden Knights organization but has now added Foley’s other businesses such as Fidelity, Cannae, and Foley Family Wine under her management. Additionally, Leahy has been part of the VGK Inner Circle planning team since its creation, which showcases Foley’s other interests and properties to hockey fans. Aside from assisting with Foley’s businesses, she is tasked with adding Golden Knights branding to City National Arena and T-Mobile Arena locker rooms and helping plan the team’s annual trip to Rock Creek Cattle Company in Montana each fall. Putting her role into words doesn’t give her responsibilities the justice they deserve and, simply put, Leahy wouldn’t want to spend her time doing anything else.
“I feel very fortunate and grateful for my position within the organization and the opportunity to learn from Bill,” Leahy said. “Though I didn’t have experience in this type of role prior to my time here, I did have confidence that I could figure out any task handed to me, and it is very important to me to work hard and be someone who can be depended on.”
Leahy has been a part of the Vegas Golden Knights since the team’s first year, even though this wasn’t her originally intended career path. However, she trusted the process and shifted directions which led her to be the strong woman in sports that she is today.
She is inspired by her sister, a neonatal nurse practitioner, a small business owner, and a dedicated mother of three young children.
“My sister has an incredibly busy schedule but still takes time to connect and has such a positive impact on the people in her life,” Leahy said. “She is an incredible role model and is a really positive example that if you want it, you can achieve it.”
Being a woman in sports is becoming increasingly more normal today, however the impact it has on generations is something that can’t be overlooked. When Leahy’s niece comes to visit Las Vegas and go to Golden Knights games, it isn’t lost on Leahy that her niece is growing up thinking that being a woman in sports is a normal occurrence. Leahy doesn’t take that feeling for granted.
“I would tell her to truly be herself and not undercut your success or downplay your accomplishments,” Leahy said about what she would tell someone like her niece about working in sports. “It is okay to be proud of yourself or to be excited about something you are passionate about.”
Since being with the Golden Knights, Leahy has leaned on quite a few colleagues for advice and leadership. She works closely with Director of Hockey Administration Katy Boettinger to maintain VGK’s culture of ‘Always Advance, Never Retreat.’
“Katy [Boettinger] has been huge for me. VGK Foundation President Kim Frank and Director of Hockey Operations Tom Poraszka have both given me really great career advice and just how to handle different situations. I feel like though we’re colleagues, I have leaned on them quite a bit over the last eight years to share their knowledge and expertise,” Leahy expressed. “Then, of course, also Bill [Foley]. Being able to see how he handles situations and how he runs his businesses is really cool. Everything he touches turns to gold.”
Like Leahy, Boettinger has been with the organization since the beginning. She is the Director of Hockey Administration for the Golden Knights. When George McPhee was hired as the General Manager in 2016, Boettinger was his first call. Boettinger handles immigration for international players and staff on the team, supports General Manager Kelly McCrimmon and McPhee and acts as a liaison for players’ families. She is the friendly face the players can go to if they are new to the team and need help navigating their new life in Las Vegas. If there is a need for anything at all, Boettinger is the key connection.
Boettinger has been a part of the hockey world for more than 20 years. She worked for the Washington Capitals right out of college but bounced back and forth between the team and teaching. In college, she obtained an English degree which eventually led her to teaching in between stints with the Capitals. Her path ultimately brought her to Las Vegas where she has been excelling and inspiring others. Boettinger said she feels very fortunate to not have felt that being a woman has impacted her journey in any way.
“There are women at a variety of levels throughout the playing field. For me, it’s just meant a lot to be a woman in sports,” Boettinger said. “If you want to forge this path forward, it’s not necessarily so much about what you major in or what your studies are. It’s more so ‘what are those ways you can apply what you’ve learned and work to make that square peg fit the round hole’.”
For Boettinger, asking the tough questions and going straight through the hard times has made her into the powerful woman in sports she is today. Her path to the Golden Knights wasn’t linear, but she didn’t let that define her.
“There’s always going to be something where you ask, ‘Why am I doing this? What’s the point?’ and that’s where you find the good stuff,” Boettinger said. “There are always ways to get to where you want to go. The key is to take a path that is uniquely yours that you can be proud you took. You have to make those choices that fit you and still allow you to progress forward to where you want to end up.”
Boettinger is inspired by the tremendous people throughout the hockey operations office, such as Poraszka, McCrimmon, McPhee, and Assistant General Manager Andrew Lugerner. Boettinger said she also looks towards Kelley Rosset, Vice President of Hockey Operations Administration for the NHL for inspiration.
“She’s someone amazing who has been working for Colin Campbell in the hockey operations office for the NHL for decades. She does it year in, year out with a smile,” Boettinger said about Rosset. “Everyone knows her. Everyone loves her. She’s just a rare person who is able to do the job, do the job well, and still find that joy in it while also still giving that joy to other people. For me, that’s the inspiring thing.”
When the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023, there was one woman listed among the 52 names etched upon the trophy: Katy Boettinger. In fact, Boettinger is one of twenty women listed on the Stanley Cup altogether. Having her name on the Stanley Cup is an honor Boettinger never expected, however, the incredible recognition means the world to her.
“Having my name with Nancy Beard of the Detroit Red Wings, Marie Carnevale of the New Jersey Devils, Dale Hamilton-Powers of the Boston Bruins, and Liz Koharski of the Tampa Bay Lightning, all friends of mine, seeing their names, it just means the world,” Boettinger said.
Together, Leahy and Boettinger are two of the most impactful women in the Vegas Golden Knights organization. Their strength and perseverance don’t go unnoticed in the Golden Knights’ offices. They are two women who make the team better and show what it truly means to be the epitome of the warrior class.
“When we say we’re a Golden Knights family, we mean it top to bottom,” Boettinger stated. “We want to encourage that, and we want that to be a real thing versus something we say.”
