LAS VEGAS – Most people who claim to have won in Vegas are liars.
The Calgary Flames are not liars.
They’ll make no such declarations, having gone 0-for-ever in Sin City. They’ve rolled the dice four times, coming up snake eyes every time over the last two seasons.
Clearly the odds are stacked against anyone leaving town triumphantly, but Travis Hamonic believes the reasons for the Flames’ hard luck revolve around what visitors have to deal with at the rink as opposed to the strip.
“Obviously they are a good team and the atmosphere is as tough to play in as anywhere in the league,” said the Flames defenceman. “It’s loud. You feel them coming. You talk about the first 10 minutes in different rinks – it’s as hard a first 10 minutes as you’re going to have. It’s up there with Nashville and Winnipeg in terms of being loud. Like Winnipeg, the rink is old-school where everybody is on top of you.”
Hamonic believes the key to turning the Flames’ fortunes around Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights, one of their chief divisional rivals, is trying to embrace the atmosphere and harness the noise with an eye on silencing the joint early.
Easier said than done for a 2-1-1 Flames team that has had two horrific starts so far.
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It was a jubilant Flames squad that chartered into Vegas just after midnight following their 3-2 shootout win in Dallas Thursday night.
It gives them a full day and night on the strip before their Saturday night puck drop. A general manager’s nightmare.
Two years ago, Flames architect Brad Treliving did his best to shield players from the vagaries of Vegas by organizing the team’s very first mom’s trip. Following an evening of dining and a show, the lads headed back to their rooms while the moms lit up the down.
Johnny Gaudreau lost touch of his mother for a time, texting teammates from his room with hopes their mothers could shed light on what Jane Gaudreau was up to.
For one night the shoe was on the other foot.
This year Treliving had no such plans, leaving the players to their own devices. In the eyes of some, it’s a dangerous proposition in a sleepless city with endless temptations.
“I don’t really buy into that,” said Hamonic, when asked if that plays a role in the Knights’ 54-23-7 home record. “We go to dinner and we go home, watch TV and get to bed. We spend a lot of time on the road, on planes and in different time zones. It sounds pretty boring, but we go for a sleep and get rest. A lot of us have kids, so when we have a chance to sleep we do.”
Milan Lucic agrees the novelty of Vegas as an enticing stop has worn off.
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“I think at the start it was exciting, but now it’s just another road game,” said Lucic, who states he was only part of one win as an Oiler in Vegas. “It doesn’t matter what city you are in, if you want to find trouble you’re going to find it. Sure, it’s a lot easier in Vegas, but honestly it’s almost easier to stay out of trouble I find because there are so many great, world-class restaurants to choose from.
“Most guys, that’s what they like to do – have a good bite to eat and after that they’re satisfied and go back to their room. It’s kind of when you’re searching for things and you’re antsy, that’s when you start looking for trouble.”
Lucic was philosophical when asked if Vegas might have been more dangerous for players had it started a team at the beginning of his career a dozen years ago.
“I think so,” the 31-year-old winger smiled. “There wasn’t social media when I started. Instagram wasn’t a thing and Twitter was just starting, but it wasn’t really a thing. People weren’t filming and taking pictures of people yet, so you could quietly get in trouble. You could get away with a lot more.”
Indeed, the threat of being pictured in compromising situations keeps many in line like never before.
At least that’s how it appears.
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Like Hamonic, Lucic insists the real trouble in Vegas comes when you get to the rink.
“You feel overwhelmed being in that arena, kind of like you are in Vegas with everything going on,” said Lucic of the electric T-Mobile Arena located a few hundred metres off the strip. “In warmups they’ve got go-go dancers going along the glass, and all the music and their chants. It’s like, ‘holy smokes, what’s going on here?’
“This time it’s going to be a Saturday night game, so that fuels it up even more.”
Perhaps equally as daunting for the Flames is a date one night later in San Jose, where visitors traditionally fare almost as poorly.
