Although Las Vegas was awarded an expansion franchise by the NHL several months ago, the Vegas Golden Knights more or less officially joined the league on November 22nd when the team’s name and logo was first introduced. Majority owner Bill Foley announced the franchise’s moniker during public ceremony at the city’s Toshiba Plaza. The Golden Knights become the 31stclub in the league and will begin play at the city’s new T-Mobile Arena in October of 2017. Foley told the media that he wants his club to exhibit strength, courage, honour, teamwork, dedication and a never-say-die attitude both on and off the ice.
He added that knights are known as elite warriors and are known to protect people who can’t defend themselves. The team colours will be a combination of red, black, gold and steel grey with each colour representing the local community. Strength and durability is represented by steel grey while gold represents the desert terrain and the fact that Nevada is America’s biggest gold producer. Meanwhile, red represents the nearby Red Rock canyons and the city’s skyline while black stands for intensity and power. The team’s logo includes a knight’s helmet with the letter V emblazoned on it with the secondary logo featuring swords.
The franchise didn’t waste any time marketing the club’s name and logos as team gear and apparel, other than jerseys, was already being sold just hours after the announcement was made. The club’s official website can be found at nhl.com/goldenknights and there’s also an official app. In addition, the Golden Knights can be followed by fans via the team’s official Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat sites. The franchise is owned by Black Knight Sports and Entertainment, LLC. with the Foley and Maloof families being the principle owners. The Maloof family formerly owned the Sacramento Kings NBA franchise and has a 15 per cent stake in the Golden Knights.
Foley originally wanted to name the team the Las Vegas Black Knights in honour of the United States Military Academy, however, he ran into legal technicalities regarding trademarks and domain names. The Golden Knights name was chosen from three finalists, which were the Desert Knights, Silver Knights, and Golden Knights. The team’s general manager is George McPhee and his job will be to assemble a roster from an expansion draft and the NHL Entry Draft and the squad will compete in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division. The expansion draft will take place on June 21st.
The Golden Knights will be allowed to select one unprotected player from the other 30 NHL teams during the draft. Vegas will also select no lower than sixth position in the NHL Entry Draft, shortly afterwards. The new franchise has a lot of work to do between now and then as a coaching staff will need to be hired and numerous other details will need to be taken care of. However, there’s no need for fans to sit around and wait for the roster and staff to be announced as tickets for the Golden Knights games are on sale now.