In a strange turn of events, the Vegas Golden Knights were forced to come up with a backup plan for their sleeping arrangements on Friday after they were evicted from their hotel in San Jose.
Vegas was staying at the downtown Fairmont Hotel, which was dealing with financial difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the hotel to file for bankruptcy and abruptly shut down.
The NHL COVID travel protocols designate a single hotel in each city for visiting clubs to use during road trips, and the league had selected the Fairmont for teams playing in San Jose.
Vegas players were forced to pack up their belongings on Friday afternoon and arrive at a new hotel following their 5-4 victory over the Sharks.
"It was a surreal experience," head coach Pete DeBoer told reporters. "Hopefully this is the end of the COVID year, but it was almost the topping on the cake for what the last year has been for everybody in the world. Just another thing thrown at you, another thing to deal with.
"Not that I'm putting it in the same breath as dealing with COVID, but it was just one of those things we got thrown at us, we dealt with it."
The players credited director of team services Rick Braunstein for handling the situationl although some players had a tougher time getting all of their things packed up.
Vegas finishes its two-game series against San Jose on Saturday, then continues its road trip against the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
