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Golden Knights say ‘it’s like a home game’ playing in Arizona

Updated May 2, 2021 - 6:24 pm

GLENDALE, Ariz. — There was the typical mix of gray, white, gold and red jerseys milling about outside the Golden Knights’ games Friday and Saturday.

The usual loud ovation when the starters were announced, especially for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on Saturday. The belting of “Knight” during the national anthem. A “Go Knights Go” chant after the opening faceoff.

The only things that made the two games stand out was that they weren’t at T-Mobile Arena. The Knights were playing at Gila River Arena, but fans traveled en masse because of the close distance, easy availability and low prices.

Arizona always has been a popular road destination for the team’s followers. Center William Karlsson said “it’s like a home game” whenever the team plays in Arizona. Circumstances this year led to even more supporters making the trip.

Knights fan Anton Padgett, who wore his Max Pacioretty jersey to Friday’s game, said walking up to Gila River Arena that he appeared to be in the majority. That level of support was noticed by the players on the ice.

“It was unbelievable,” left wing Jonathan Marchessault said. “It was a quite a lot of fans in the stands. It was probably the most we’ve had all year. It was great. Honestly, we noticed at the hotel that we have a lot of fans in Arizona right now. The atmosphere was great.”

The locals

The Knights fans who went to the Coyotes games primarily fell in two camps.

Some live in Arizona. Others drove or flew to what was typically their first road game of the season.

The Knights are a popular team in Nevada’s neighboring state because of the close proximity and the success of the franchise. Joey Schaffner, a Las Vegas native who lives in Gilbert, Arizona, said he was a Ducks fan but switched allegiances when his hometown got an NHL franchise.

He’s been to four or five Knights games in Arizona and said the crowds are always “50-50,” if not worse for the Coyotes.

Matt Lewandowski and his fiancee, Micayla King — he proposed at the Knights’ Dec. 31, 2019, home game against Los Angeles — echoed those sentiments. They said even when the Knights are not playing in Arizona, they wear their jerseys to Coyotes games and see other fans do the same.

“It’s definitely easier for, let’s just say Arizona fans, to come and watch the Knights here, because in T-Mobile you have to face more sold-out tickets,” King said. “Like everyone’s trying to go. I feel like hockey in the desert there is very strong, where as here, not so much.”

The travelers

There are also a lot of Knights fans who travel to Coyotes games because they’re within driving distance and it’s not difficult to get a ticket.

That was especially true this year. Arizona was the first team in the West Division to start allowing fans back into the building in January. Several Knights fans who attended Friday’s and Saturday’s games said they bought their tickets months ago because they didn’t know if they would see the team in person this season otherwise. T-Mobile Arena began hosting limited crowds March 1.

The Knights’ rink filled up fast once tickets became available, which isn’t surprising. T-Mobile Arena hosted more fans than its listed capacity in each of the Knights’ first three seasons, and every game this season has been sold out with limited capacity.

That doesn’t happen for the Coyotes. The team has ranked 30th, 27th and 28th in the NHL in percentage of capacity reached the previous three seasons. This season, despite currently being allowed to host 7,900 fans, they had an announced crowd of 5,111 on Friday and 5,671 on Saturday.

That made it simple for Knights fans to snatch up tickets. Jerilyn Coon was expecting to get teased for wearing a “Vegas Born” sweatshirt Friday, but instead realized she would be welcomed once she saw all the other fans outside the arena.

“In our hotel … half the place is Golden Knights fans,” said Vinny Raucci, who was wearing one of the team’s new gold jerseys Friday. “It’s packed.”

The tickets

There’s another huge factor driving Knights fans to Arizona besides the availability: the prices.

Because of the laws of supply and demand, it’s not cheap to get a seat at T-Mobile Arena. That remains true this season with a limited number available. Fans can get more for less in Arizona.

Partial Knights season ticket holder Chris Gebelin said for the price he paid for a lower-bowl seat for a game at T-Mobile Arena in March, he got a suite at Gila River Arena.

There were tickets available for Friday’s game that afternoon starting at $52. Saturday’s game had tickets available starting at $59 less than three hours before puck drop. Tickets started at $160 to get into T-Mobile Arena for the Knights’ home game against the St. Louis Blues on Friday as of Saturday afternoon.

That difference made it worth it for fans to head to Arizona to see the team play. And they were happy to connect with one another when they arrived.

“There’s going to be that brotherhood or friendship that exists regardless when you see somebody with a Knights hat on or a shirt,” said Knights season ticket holder Brandon Albright, whose dour expressions — his name on Twitter is “VGK Grumpy Cat” — frequently land him and his wife, Kelly, on T-Mobile’s Jumbotron. “We’re going to know that we went out of our way to support our team, and it’s going to be really exciting in that way.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.

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