Ideas for a first game.

hangman005

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Apr 19, 2015
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So what team do you think should be Vegas's first game... I assume it would be a home game... be stupid not to be really.

Should it be a geographic rival? LA? Anahiem? Arizona?
The year before's stanley cup winner?
The worst team in the league try to get them that win.?
or another team?

I maybe totally wrong about this, but I would be tempted to say Chicago... it seems everyone from Vegas I know is a Chicago transplant, and I think it could be a good first game match up if a rivalry develops it could be called Mafia Wars lol... sorry I couldn't resist.

But interest into what you chaps think would make a great first game.
 

BattleBorn

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Feb 6, 2015
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Good question.

I'm personally hoping for a game against a team people here aren't likely to care about. I'm not saying it to be rude or brash, but I'd love the Islanders, Panthers, Senators, some "bronze" level game so we've got a full Vegas crowd.

To be quite honest, I hope we don't see Chicago, Detroit, LA, Boston, etc. until we're a month or two in. Get the T-MA home crowd culture ingrained into the Las Vegas fans prior to having a team with a huge road following/local fanbase come to town.
 

KnishOfTheCrease

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Oct 8, 2010
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Good question.

I'm personally hoping for a game against a team people here aren't likely to care about. I'm not saying it to be rude or brash, but I'd love the Islanders, Panthers, Senators, some "bronze" level game so we've got a full Vegas crowd.

To be quite honest, I hope we don't see Chicago, Detroit, LA, Boston, etc. until we're a month or two in. Get the T-MA home crowd culture ingrained into the Las Vegas fans prior to having a team with a huge road following/local fanbase come to town.

Better not be the Islanders, because I'll be the schmuck wearing the Islanders jersey in my season tickets seats :laugh:

I'd like to see the Coyotes, just to try and build a rivalry from day 1.
 

Super Cake

Registered User
Jun 24, 2013
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Good question.

I'm personally hoping for a game against a team people here aren't likely to care about. I'm not saying it to be rude or brash, but I'd love the Islanders, Panthers, Senators, some "bronze" level game so we've got a full Vegas crowd.

To be quite honest, I hope we don't see Chicago, Detroit, LA, Boston, etc. until we're a month or two in. Get the T-MA home crowd culture ingrained into the Las Vegas fans prior to having a team with a huge road following/local fanbase come to town.

Better not be the Senators becasue i will be forced to cheer against Vegas, which i don't want to do when it is their first game ever.
 

BattleBorn

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Feb 6, 2015
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Better not be the Islanders, because I'll be the schmuck wearing the Islanders jersey in my season tickets seats :laugh:

I'd like to see the Coyotes, just to try and build a rivalry from day 1.

Better not be the Senators becasue i will be forced to cheer against Vegas, which i don't want to do when it is their first game ever.

How did I manage to pick two Vegas fans teams as examples? Sorry, that was not intentional. :laugh:
 

BattleBorn

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Feb 6, 2015
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Would like to see them play a team they have a decent shot at winning, of all the teams nearest I think Arizona would be a good choice.

Arizona would be a good one, if we're going to start a little regional rivalry we might as well start as early as possible.
 

702

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Jun 6, 2016
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I have zero basis to this statement other than my Flyers starting THIS coming season on a West coast swing, but I believe it's rare an East Coast team starts out the season on a West coast swing. At least I can't remember it. Usually because it means that team doesn't have a home opener for awhile.

So I would assume it would be a Western team just off of that.
 

Murf

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Apr 10, 2007
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I'd say LA. The Kings have been good for a while but I bet they start to fade by 2017-18, as the flow turns to ebb. LA is as likely to be a rival as is AZ, and by my guess, this matchup would be classified as winnable.
 

Soundgarden

#164303
Jul 22, 2008
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I'd say LA. The Kings have been good for a while but I bet they start to fade by 2017-18, as the flow turns to ebb. LA is as likely to be a rival as is AZ, and by my guess, this matchup would be classified as winnable.

Would be some good star power with Kopitar and Doughty, recent Stanley Cup champs too. I think either LA or Arizona will be a good bet to be the first game.
 

talkinaway

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Mar 19, 2014
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A regional rivalry, by far. The last few years, Stanley Cup champs have opened on Wednesday (where there's only 3-4 games) at home, which only makes sense for banner-raising purposes. If the Stanley Cup champs come to Vegas, it's during the summer after the win, and it's to party.

More than any other league (and probably because of its relatively smaller fan base), the NHL relies on rivalries. Most rivalries that aren't somewhat temporary are driven by geography...or at least by being in the same division. It's easy to hate a team you play 4 times a year, with a good chance of seeing early in the playoffs.

Getting pumped up for an interconference game is hard, even when there is bad blood - and when there is bad blood, it dissipates quickly. For example, the Boston/Vancouver post-2011 rivalry has cooled down enough for Luongo to jokingly tweet at Marchand calling Marchand his "daddy", and for Vancouver native Lucic to consider a return to Vancouver despite his church being vandalized and despite Lucic being punched by Vancouver "fans".

Arizona's the most natural rivalry. There's already a menage a trois rivalry in southern California. Calgary/Edmonton as the Battle of Alberta is fairly strong, and Vancouver might even be the third part of that menage a trois, too. That leaves Arizona as the orphan, and it would make a great "desert rivalry".
 

xxxx

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Sep 20, 2012
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Good question :)

Arizona seems to make sense. But so does Los Angeles to me. It's approximately the same distance as Phoenix, and I think the rivalry will be there too. And in terms of selecting the very first game for the franchise, and for the whole city, Los Angeles could be the most attractive team of all from a marketing point of view.
 

psowrc

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Feb 21, 2015
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The Kings...might as well fill the remaining 2000 seats with LA fans. It's going to be a "Robin Leach" kind of nite so might as well be playing Hollywood.

I get the Coyotes opinion with the hopeful belief that there will be a rivalry. LA will get you the most televised/media covered bang for the buck.
 

The Feckless Puck

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Oct 26, 2006
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Arizona makes the most sense. It's the closest regional rival, and it's the least likely to fill up T-Mobile Arena with transplant fans cheering against the home team. Chicago, LA, Anaheim, etc. will all be challenging to get a real "home team" crowd for opening night.

As a fan of both teams, Vegas/Arizona is going to be the best for both franchises. It's a natural rivalry and it's got to be nurtured to help both teams.
 

BattleBorn

50% to winning as many division titles as Toronto
Feb 6, 2015
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I agree. Arizona provides the best shot for a real regional rivalry. We can try to pretend like we'll matter to Southern California teams, but they're pretty involved with themselves and San Jose. Until we get some game and playoff history with those guys, I don't see much doing there.

Arizona is the one, plus they provide plenty of low hanging trash talk potential should it turn into trash talking thing.
 

Jormungandr

Registered User
Aug 14, 2002
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I cannot wait for the '17-'18 season to get here. There's so much potential for a rivalry between Vegas and Arizona. Its exciting as a Coyotes fan because we've never had a real rivalry. Although I can't help but think I'll have somewhat of a soft spot for the Vegas team because we will be desert hockey brothers.
 

HanSolo

DJ Crazy Times
Apr 7, 2008
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Arizona makes the most sense. It's the closest regional rival, and it's the least likely to fill up T-Mobile Arena with transplant fans cheering against the home team. Chicago, LA, Anaheim, etc. will all be challenging to get a real "home team" crowd for opening night.

As a fan of both teams, Vegas/Arizona is going to be the best for both franchises. It's a natural rivalry and it's got to be nurtured to help both teams.

You mean desert region right? Cause Los Angeles and Anaheim are geographically closer

LV to Anaheim is about 262 miles
LV to LA is 270
LV to Glendale AZ is 283 miles.

At least according to shortest routes on Google Maps.

Edit: FWIW the city of Phoenix is the farthest from LV at almost 300 miles
 

ICantDriveLV

Registered User
Jun 22, 2016
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Sin City, NV
All I hope, is that we have the call and response we had for the Wranglers. Like when the opposing team goes back to full strength, announce it, and we can yell "and they still suck" or "thank you" when they announce one minute left.
 

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