Las Vegas Hockey 101

John Locher / AP

Confetti streams above an excited crowd as the name of Las Vegas' National Hockey League franchise — the Vegas Golden Knights — is unveiled Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, outside T-Mobile Arena.

Hockey 101 Final Exam: Test your knowledge, Golden Knights fans

Jun 13, 2017 (2 a.m.)

By Jesse Granger

The 15-part Hockey 101 series has concluded, and as with every class it ends with a final exam. Covering everything from hockey rules to strategy, traditions and ...

An introduction to hockey analytics

June 10, 2017

By Case Keefer

When the Florida Panthers fired Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant last year, rumors persisted that his stubbornness to embrace the organization’s aggressive use of advanced statistics precipitated the change. ...
NHL’s trophy case: Going through the league’s many pieces of hardware

June 9, 2017

By Jesse Granger

The Stanley Cup is likely the most famous trophy in all of sports, but the NHL hands out a lot of other hardware not nearly as recognizable. ...
Stanley Cup carries an aura and history unlike any other trophy in sports

June 8, 2017

By Jesse Granger

Either the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Nashville Predators will move within a single victory of hoisting the largest, oldest and perhaps most iconic trophy in the world tonight when they face off at 5 p.m. tonight. ...
NHL’s record book: The glory of Gretzky and other all-time great marks

June 7, 2017

By Case Keefer

Records like Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak and Peyton Manning’s 539 career touchdown passes are engrained in the minds of fans. All-time hockey marks typically don’t carry the same cache in sports culture. ...
Hockey 101: Diving into the makeup of an NHL roster

June 6, 2017

By Jesse Granger

The way NHL teams handle player personnel is similar to baseball. Franchises can move players between their club and affiliated minor-league teams. ...
Line changes: How hockey substitutions work and why they’re so important

June 3, 2017

By Jesse Granger

In most sports, players on the bench wait patiently for a stoppage in play before trotting onto the field. Hockey is quite the opposite. Players are constantly hurdling the boards as their counterparts exit the ice in a mad dash to complete substitutions as seamlessly as possible ...
How to bet on hockey

May 30, 2017

By Case Keefer

A couple years before the NHL officially awarded Las Vegas an expansion franchise, commissioner Gary Bettman cast doubt on the possibility because of his staunch stance against gambling. ...
Calculating cost of outfitting an NHL player — it’s pricey

May 27, 2017

By Jesse Granger

Chris Davidson-Adams has worked more than 1,000 games over 21 seasons, including stints with the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks, and now manages the purchasing of all player equipment for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights. He’s eager to ...
An all-important primer on hockey’s icing and offsides rules

May 24, 2017

By Jesse Granger

Hockey is relatively whistle-free compared to sports like football and basketball. Occasional stoppages occur but the game flows more freely and has fewer commercial breaks — allowing average games to end in only two hours and twenty minutes. ...
Clappers, dekes and other hockey slang to know

May 23, 2017

By Jesse Granger

Hall of Famer Gordie Howe once said, “All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.” ...
Tracking down the hats thrown onto the NHL ice following a hat trick

May 20, 2017

By Jesse Granger

The arena’s staff was equally prepared, opening the boards and sending dozens of workers armed with snow shovels onto the rink to ...
Navigating the ice markings on an NHL rink

May 17, 2017

By Jesse Granger

Five painted lines, nine dots, five circles and two trapezoids lie frozen in 10,600 gallons of water, all encased by fiberglass boards. A standard National Hockey League rink is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide. The 42-inch-tall boards — usually plastered with advertisements — hold panes of acrylic glass, which extend ...
Sin bin: How to find your way into the NHL penalty box

May 16, 2017

By Jesse Granger

Don’t punch, trip or elbow the opponent, and keep your stick from spearing them or hitting them in the teeth. The more severe the foul is, or the more blood it draws, the longer ...
Wanna fight? Some rules and etiquette for fighting in NHL

May 13, 2017

By Jesse Granger

The hockey players’ gloves hit the ice. The men clutch the other’s jersey with one hand and bash their knuckles against one another’s faces with the other. The fans cheer in enjoyment. The result is ...