Now it is really Hot on Ice

We need to give credit to the firsts in life. Those who thought of or invented things we enjoy on a daily basis that we never used to have in our lifetime. Let’s start with hospitality and ice. Two things we never thought that would go together but now we have the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights. Yes, cold ice hockey in hot dry Vegas. The team even has their own rink at T-Mobile Arena. This combination of hospitality, heat and ice has been the most exciting thing to hit Vegas lately.

Up and down the famed Las Vegas Strip you can find an endless string of firsts. They have the first volcano that erupts on command. They have the first dancing fountains set to music. They have the first urban park on Las Vegas Boulevard. But it is the most recent addition to the strip that is an impressive giant to the delight of both residents and visitors. It is Las Vegas’s first technologically advanced events arena and one of its primary tenants is the city’s first major professional sports franchise and arena. The marriage occurred last fall when the National Hockey League’s   Vegas Golden Knights merged in a union with T-Mobile Arena. The team and the place has been impressing guests ever since.

So does that mean we can mix sports with gambling? Didn’t that great baseball player lose his career over mixing the two? Apparently folks don’t care anymore about that. With their introduction, the Golden Knights made history as the first franchise from one of North America’s four major professional sports leagues to plant a flag on Las Vegas. Then the puck dropped on the 2017-18 NHL season, and the Golden Knights proceeded to make nightly history and got everyone hooked on hockey in the desert. Only in America.

Who knew that the team wouldn’t be so bad? In fact in its first season out the team managed to have five straight victories to become the first NHL expansion club to win eight of its first nine contests. With a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on November 22, 2017 the Golden Knights reached yet another milestone, posting their 13^th win in their first 20 games. They were the first expansion team to accomplish that since the Montreal Canadians established the record. Not bad for a brand new team.

It was that impressive new arena that certainly helped the team to win 24 out of 31 of its first contests. The multi-purpose 20,000 seat arena opened in April 2016. No more freezing with not much but an even colder drink to watch a game. This place is pure luxury. Even if you hate the constant violence and blood and aggressive beatings that go on in the game, you will love the four suites that are positioned on each side of the arena on the event level.

The suites have a private bar, private bathroom leather seating and couches with the availability of gourmet food and desserts. This kind of service is a first for an arena of this size with such a close up view of the action.