Jack Eichel knows cool. Stanley Cup cool. And when 50 Best Buddies sang Happy Birthday to him recently, the cool-meter began to ring again for No. 9.
“It was pretty cool having them sing Happy Birthday to me,” said Eichel. “That’s pretty awesome.”
Ever since forward Eichel arrived in Vegas, he's been giving back to his community. Eichel's first time ever putting on a Vegas Golden Knights jersey was for a youth hockey clinic with the Boys and Girls Club of North Las Vegas in 2021 less than 48 hours after he got to the city. And in the two years since, he makes sure he's the first to volunteer for a Vegas Golden Knights Foundation initiative whether it's a street hockey clinic or a food drive.
On Thursday, Oct. 26, he took it a step further, inviting Best Buddies Nevada, a branch of a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities out to a Golden Knights practice. He presented them with a $40,000 donation and involved his teammates in dressing up in fun costumes and trick-or-treating with the more than 50 Best Buddies participants.
"Best Buddies is something that means a lot to me," said Eichel. "It was my first time meeting some of the people involved here in Nevada, so I'm just trying to build relationships. If we can give a little of our time to them, I think it goes a long way.”
The star forward didn't stop there with the Best Buddies organization. Not only did he invite a large group to the Golden Knights game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 27 and meet with them after, but Eichel purchased season tickets for Best Buddies use. He will host a member of the organization at almost every home game in T-Mobile arena for the rest of the 2023-24 season.
“You just see their enthusiasm, how much joy something so small can bring," said Eichel. "They have so much energy. It’s just a lot of fun to be around them."
The $40,000 donation for Best Buddies came from a hockey skills camp that was hosted this summer at City National Arena. JE9 Hockey Camp is a premier youth hockey camp founded by Eichel. The camp provides young hockey players with the opportunity to learn from the star NHL forward and other top-level coaches, as well as to participate in on-ice drills and games designed to enhance their skills and understanding of the game. All the proceeds are donated to a local charity, and this year it was Best Buddies.
"He doesn't do this for the cameras," said Kim Frank, President of the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation. "The donation that he made for Best Buddies is because he held this amazing camp this summer and he wanted to make sure he gave back. It wasn't just a revenue-earner, it was to give back to the community here."
The Golden Knights leading scorer in last season’s run to the Stanley Cup has a long history with this particular organization, dating all the way back to his days on the east coast. Eichel participated in the Hyannis Port Best Buddies Challenge in which he biked 100 miles from Boston to Cape Cod in order to raise money for the nonprofit.
"I love Jack's passion on and off the ice," said Frank. "He loves to give back to the community when his schedule permits and half the time when it doesn't. From the VGK Foundation's side, we are just as passionate about helping the Las Vegas community and when a player has a passion or gets involved we double down. We love to give just as much or try and help as much as we can to support them."
Eichel has established that he is a champion on the ice, helping the Golden Knights to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2023. But as he continues to support initiatives within the Las Vegas community as he has since day one, he proves that he has always been one off the ice.
