LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights raised their 2022-23 Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters of T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday, the six-year anniversary of their first regular-season home game as an NHL team.
The Golden Knights put what defenseman Shea Theodore called "the cherry on top" of their Stanley Cup championship celebration before opening their seventh season against the Seattle Kraken, the NHL's newest team that entered its third season.
The festivities began with the players, all wearing their Stanley Cup championship rings they received Sunday night, walking the gold carpet outside the arena with fans lining the barriers on each side, many who arrived in Toshiba Plaza in the morning.
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone carried the Stanley Cup with him, raising it over his head, and forward Jonathan Marchessault had the Conn Smythe Trophy, which he won as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
The players also brought with them down the gold carpet the Clarence Campbell Bowl, awarded to the Western Conference champions.
The Golden Knights and Kraken took the ice for warmups at 7:20 p.m. local time and, as usual, the music blared, the base pumped, the stands were filled and showgirls were dancing directly behind the glass on the visitor’s side.
The knight helmet that the Golden Knights skate through started to come down at 7:56 p.m. and a minute later the lights went off and the show began.
A replica stone was brought to center ice during the story narration that is always part of the pregame show here at Golden Knights games. The knight came onto the ice, sword and shield in each hand. He stabbed his sword into the stone, a play on "The Sword in the Stone" fairytale.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's press conference announcing the Golden Knights as a team played on the scoreboard. Highlights from the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft followed, showing the Golden Knights selecting Marchessault and Theodore.
Highlights from the first season played, visuals of the Golden Knights' first trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final in 2018.
Stone being named captain, center Jack Eichel arriving in Las Vegas, coach Bruce Cassidy's introductory press conference, it was all part of the video that was essentially a history of the Golden Knights franchise playing on the scoreboard with spotlights circulating the arena.
Then came some of the best moments of Vegas' playoff run last season, complete with the moment it won the Stanley Cup and players raised it over their heads.
The knight returned, pulling his sword out of the stone, and the Golden Knights, led by goalie Adin Hill, skated through the knight helmet and a haze of smoke onto the ice, the base again pumping through the arena.
Stone was the last onto the ice, getting a special introduction while holding the Stanley Cup, raising it over his head as he came through the knight helmet. His teammates followed him around the ice, a full lap with sticks raised, every fan in the building on their feet.
Stone placed the Cup onto the table next to a giant slot machine. He pulled the lever, and it was triple Stanley Cups.
The banner appeared, rising out of the slot machine, the Golden Knights’ logo covering the lower third of the Cup, which was underneath the writing "STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2023."
The banner stopped low enough so the Golden Knights could skate over to the slot machine, the Cup and the banner to take a team photo in front of it all.
"Vegas, the banner will now be making its descent to the rafters to forever represent a Stanley Cup champion," the public address announcer said.
The players all stood in a semicircle and watched it go up and the fans started chanting, "Go Knights, go" as "Shot at the Night" by The Killers played.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we did this together," the P.A. announcer said. "One more time for the Stanley Cup champions, our Vegas Golden Knights."
The fans roared, the players raised their sticks, and right then the four officials skated on to the ice, followed by the Kraken.
"The slot machine was freaking cool, I thought,” Cassidy said. “I couldn't see it at first because they have the big archway that was in my way. You're going through scenarios in your head for the actual game and then I looked over and I thought it was pretty neat. The banner itself, too, a great design. I did get a sneak peek at that. They had the game pucks, and someone told me it would be similar. Once again they've done a great job here with those details of performance and art, creativity."
The knight helmet went back up, the slot machine was wheeled off, Vegas' starting lineup was announced, Carnell Johnson sang the U.S. national anthem, the lights went on, owner Bill Foley rang the siren and it was time for the Golden Knights to start defending their title.
The puck dropped at 8:16 p.m. The Golden Knights won, 4-1.
"It meant a lot. It meant a lot for everyone in this room,” Eichel said. “It's pretty cool watching a championship banner get raised into the rafters and knowing you're part of history and it's going to be there forever. A pretty cool moment and nice to be there with the guys and share that with them."
