Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Golden Knights settle in for an offseason unlike any other

Golden Knights Beat Chicago Blackhawks 4-1

AP

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner (90) is helped to the bench by Mark Stone (61) and Paul Stastny (26) after losing a skate blade during the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Shea Theodore sat outside Wednesday for an end-of-season Zoom call with the media, enjoying something he hasn’t had a lot of enough in the last eight weeks: fresh air.

When Theodore and the Golden Knights were competing in the playoffs, they were locked into the NHL bubble in Edmonton and only allowed at the arena and adjoining hotel. Trips outside were rare.

“It’s definitely a different feeling being outside, being able to walk around, but that’s what the league put together in place to make sure it was safe for guys to go,” Theodore said. “When you’re trapped in a hotel for so long, there’s only so many things you can do inside there. We only had the one courtyard. Probably going to head to the lake here, a couple of nice days off.”

The bubble project isn’t over yet — there’s still the Stanley Cup Final next week — but the biggest takeaway is that the NHL and the players association’s plan worked. There were no positive COVID-19 cases in either Edmonton or Toronto where the games were, and players throughout the entire experience said they felt safe.

But that doesn’t mean they enjoyed it. 

Everyone missed their families and each dealt with different degrees of homesickness. Max Pacioretty said his wife is due with their fifth child “any day now,” and had Vegas advanced in the tournament, he would have missed the birth of his first daughter.

“I had my family’s full support the whole time I was there. It was never talked about that we wish I could come home early,” Pacioretty said. Then later, “At the end of the day I hope we don’t have to do that again.”

Now that the Golden Knights are back home, the offseason preparations begin. Typically players like to take a few weeks off before returning to workouts, including on-ice exercise. Typically, though, they know when next season will begin, and that’s not the case this time.

Almost every other year, there was some clarity on what the offseason would look like. The draft was in late June, free agency on July 1 and training camp after Labor Day ahead of an early-October start to the next season.

The coronavirus pandemic pushed the beginning of hockey’s playoffs to late July, with every other blank getting filled in as the days progressed. The draft will begin Oct. 6 and free agency will start Oct. 9. Everything else is still unknown.

The reported start date was Dec. 1, with training camp beginning Nov. 17. It was always tentative, as now players and others are less optimistic about that date.

“If I was a betting man, I’d say we’re going to start later than projected,” forward Paul Stastny said. “Part of me thinks it might be early next year.”

Stastny is as in the dark about next season’s opening as anyone. There are myriad variables in play, including if and when fans will be permitted to return. 

The NHL and NBA just had to finish their seasons, so the bubble was more readily accepted by all involved. MLB and NFL have gone forward with as normal a regular season as possible, traveling across the country and playing in home venues. The Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars even managed to get more than 14,000 fans each into their home openers last week.

MLB and NFL are, for the most part, outdoor sports with venues that dwarf the size of NHL arenas by contrast. It’s also up to the local and state governments. For example, Nevada currently has a ban on public gatherings of more than 50 people. That would make putting 18,000-plus fans into T-Mobile Arena for an NHL game a non-starter as long as those regulations are in place.

“We didn’t have one of our biggest advantages, which is playing in front of T-Mobile,” forward Mark Stone said. “I can’t wait to get back in front of all the great fans in Las Vegas and play in front of them again.”

Theodore wants to get back home to British Columbia, but the wildfires on the West Coast have made the area too smoky to return to immediately. Stastny is going to stay in Las Vegas to keep his kids in their school-year routine, but maybe sneak in a vacation on a school break. William Karlsson is also leaning toward staying in town this offseason. Stone is going to take some time to “unwind” before he’s itching to play hockey again.

We might see hockey in December, but also maybe not until 2021. There might be fans for games, but maybe not. Maybe teams are playing in their own arenas, or maybe they’re going to bubble up again.

It’s going to be an offseason unlike any other. All the Golden Knights can do now is head back home, make up for lost time with their families, and wait to hear what’s next.

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