Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson raises the Stanley Cup during a Vegas Golden Knights victory parade on the Las Vegas Strip Saturday, June 17, 2023. The Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday to win the Stanley Cup Final.
Saturday, June 17, 2023 | 10:30 p.m.
Matthew Pomichowski jumped up and down, waved his arms and yelled to get the attention of Golden Knights captain Mark Stone during Saturday’s championship parade on the Las Vegas Strip.
Tens of thousands of Vegas Golden Knights supporters packed the Strip for the parade to celebrate the Stanley Cup champions. And most of them were like Pomichowki in trying to get a glimpse of their favorite players.
“Nobody plays harder than Stone,” said Pomichowk, who was wearing a Stone jersey. “He represents this team and Vegas.”
Players rode in double decker buses on the Strip with supporters seemingly everywhere basking in the celebration. Fans cheered passionately, and the players returned the love: Some fans were sprayed with beer, others were fortunate enough to get a photo with a player, or a souvenir.
The event brought the type of crowd — and crowd control — that’s seen on New Year’s Eve.
Just like the revelers on Dec. 31, the Golden Knight fans were there to party, finding a spot on the parade route that traveled south on the Strip before ending at Toshiba Plaza in front of T-Mobile Arena.
The plaza hit its capacity of fans around 7 p.m., according to a social media post by Metro Police.
Fans started arriving on Las Vegas Boulevard in the early afternoon to find a spot. But, unlike New Year’s Eve, there were plenty of children and families.
The Small sisters — Mila, 8, and Lucy, 7 — cheered from home while watching playoff games, their grandmother Kim Small said. Attending the parade is a memory they soon won’t forget, especially with photos showing their matching Golden Knights shirts with gold bows in their hair.
Raleigh and David Zatz, transplants from Minnesota, arrived at 3 p.m. when temperatures were around 100 degrees. It’s not the first time they have braved extreme weather to enjoy the sport, recalling watching the Minnesota Wild in the 2022 Winter Classic, the NHL’s annual outdoor game. Temperatures were in the negative that day.
“This is about a 120 degree difference,” David Zatz jokingly said.
The sun was setting when the parade around 8 p.m. reached New York New York, where chants of “Go Knights, Go” could be heard.
That was partially thanks to 5-year-old Revena Geick, who consistently yelled the rallying cry into a microphone as she watched the spectacle from her uncle’s shoulders.
The event concluded with players and team officials greeting supporters at Toshiba Plaza. The loudest applause seemed to come when owner Bill Foley came onto the stage, and fans started yelling, “Cup in 6.”
Foley delivered on his promise for the expansion team in that they’d win the Stanley Cup in six years of existence. This, of course, was the sixth season.
