Monday, April 2, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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In the Stanley Cup playoffs the importance of every hit, pass, save and goal gets amplified.
So will the atmosphere at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas’ home-ice advantage is already recognized as one of the best in the league. They hope to intensify it in the postseason.
“We’ve got a few very big tricks up our sleeves that the fans can be looking forward to,” said Jonny Greco, the organization’s vice president of events and entertainment. “We’ve also got a lot of enhancements to stuff we’re already doing. You do it a little better, a little bit bigger.”
As big of an opportunity as this is for the Golden Knights on the ice, it’s equally big for Greco and his staff. Look no further than last season, when the spotlight was cast on the Nashville Predators' in-game entertainment during their run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
“We are totally stoked about it,” Greco said. “Fortunately we have this passionate fanbase that we know are going to show up. We know they are going to come ready to rock. Now it’s our responsibility, with my creative team, to respect what we’ve done all season but turn it up a notch.”
T-Mobile Arena sold out in all 41 regular season home games, with an average attendance of 18,042 — or 103.9 percent capacity.
“No one in their right mind could have envisioned the magic that has happened this year on the ice and off the ice,” Greco said. “We obviously couldn’t have predicted the success on the ice, but you also couldn’t have predicted the way this city has embraced this team. They bring so much energy and life to these games.”
The Golden Knights won’t be ditching the usual in-game entertainment that fans have enjoyed all season. From the opening ceremony featuring the evil, hooded character waving the opposing team’s flag and the Golden Knight himself, to the Drumbots in the castle and Chance the Gila Monster.
“We had a lot of philosophical discussion over how different we wanted it to look for the playoffs,” Greco said. “We want to keep what’s been working. There’s no reason to change if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. We’re going to take the stuff that works and expand on them a little bit. There are a couple real big things, new elements, that continue the story that we started this season.”
The experience has transformed throughout the season, adding bits and pieces for each homestand. Small changes like adding details to the opening video, installing machines that shoot smoke from the corners of the rink after goals, and projecting flames onto the ice during pregame.
Greco said many of the features were planned from before the season, but because the Golden Knights started everything from scratch they took time to order and install.
Some teams give away matching T-shirts during the playoffs to create a “white out,” or whatever color they choose, while some teams give away rally towels to turn their arena into a whirling nightmare for opposing teams. Greco said the team hasn’t decided what they’ll do, but said whatever it is will have a Las Vegas twist on it.
All of the changes for the postseason are aimed at one thing — maximizing home-ice advantage.
“Everything we’ve thought of revolves around what we can do to elevate the fan experience, and in the end give us the best chance to create the home-ice advantage to get a big win on the ice,” Greco said. “We’ve got two games that we know we get to have. On the entertainment side we are going to give everything we have, be as creative as we can be to support the guys on the ice.”
Making the arena loud won’t be difficult. The Golden Knights’ faithful have shown as much during each and every one of the 41 regular season games — the home record of 29-10-2 is a direct result of the atmosphere.
“I don’t even think words can describe it,” rookie forward Alex Tuch said. “It’s my first year in the NHL and it’s been nothing but special. These fans have been unbelievable. I’ve played in almost every arena and Vegas does it like no other. It’s been an unbelievable season and the fans have given us more than we ever could have hoped for.”
Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.
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