The best story of the NHL season so far, hands down, is the shocking success of expansion Vegas. If we’re being honest, many fans of the game far north of Nevada questioned the viability of Vegas as a hockey market, but four months in it’s a smashing success.
So much so, in fact, that the crush of fans seeking autographs or to meet players after practices has become a bit of a security concern for the team. As a result, according to Golden Knights beat reporter Steve Carp, the team has instituted a new policy that restricts where fans can get a player autograph, and which fans can get that access at all.
According to Carp, fans can now only seek an autograph in a designated area by the player benches in City National Arena, where the Golden Knights practice. There is also an age restriction, as only those 14 years old or younger are eligible. Fans will no longer be able to camp in the players’ parking lot to seek out an autograph.
“Obviously we were having large crowds showing up at our practices, and I just felt like we had to define a better process,” Knights president Kerry Bubolz told Carp. “So we looked to define a better process, and ultimately, that the most people can get autographs that we decided to limit it to kids.”
He continued: “What I saw, honestly, I saw adults at times pushing kids out of the way, and that’s just not how we’re wired. On the exterior of the building we had to change that process too. Guys were stopping, as they always do, and it was creating a safety hazard. We saw kids running into the street and we just couldn’t have an incident like that take place so we had to change that process as well.”
With one game left before the all-star break, Vegas has the second-most points in the NHL with 68 and sit first in the Western Conference. According to ESPN, they are 17th in average home attendance, but fourth in terms of capacity.
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