Yesterday was a great day for Las Vegas. The Creator and his organization put on quite a show (except for that damn video) and revealed to fans a name to stand behind. Most locals I talked to were very positive, but there were many negative opinions as well. Here are some fan reviews after yesterday’s big reveal.
I’m more excited than my son who plays hockey. My son loves hockey, he’s been playing since he was four. He loves watching the Ducks, and my husband loves the Islanders. Now they’ll be fans of the same team. -Cheryl, Local Mom
It’s a great logo. I really like the Knight, there’s a Game of Thrones feel to it. It would be great if Hodor was the mascot. I can’t wait to wear a t-shirt with that Knight on it. And I’m not really a hockey fan either, but I will be. -Grahame, Local Programmer
I’m not a fan of the logo at all. It looks like the Kings, and it’s similar to the Senators. It’s neither here nor there for me. The silver should be more prevalent, highlight the Silver State connection. The name Golden Knights left me underwhelmed. But hey we have hockey team. -Heather, Local Fan
Joey: Vegas feels more like the Strip, Las Vegas describes where we live. Tourists say Vegas. Golden has nothing to do with Las Vegas, I’m very disappointed. I bought season tickets for five years, I will now sell more tickets than I had planned. This team was going to be my favorite but no longer. I just don’t care that much now. I really believe it’s a slap in the face to Las Vegas locals.
Paulina: Now we’ll continue to be Kings fans when we planned to be Knights fans. We’re flat out angry. We would not buy season tickets right now after the name reveal. I just don’t care anymore. -Joey and Paulina, Local Married Couple
First reaction was kinda what I expected. I was partly hoping they would surprise us with something else. The Knight logo will look awesome on jerseys. I also think the red will look great. -Andrew, Local Student
Fallon: The name is okay. I wasn’t overly excited for it. I’m cool with it just being Vegas. It sounds badass. Plus it has no other connection with any NHL team. So it’s unique. -Fallon, Local Student
I know you guys have thoughts. I know we have a comments section. Go.
**Also, if you want your voice heard on the podcast, record a voice memo and send it to ken@sinbin.vegas. We’ll play it on tonight’s episode.**
Drew
Typically I leave all my bitching on your twitter but I guess I can leave it here too. I’ve come around on “Vegas”. Doesn’t look so bad on merchandise. “Golden Knights” is awful. Nearly everyone agrees. Polled terribly. No connection to Vegas. The Pelicans no longer have the worst name in all of pro-sports.
The logo I love on merchandise. But for the life of me I don’t know why we’re all supposed to ignore that the images of the logos on their website do not match the coloring on the merchandise.
Either way….I’ll refuse to call them the Golden Knights. It’s not happening.
Garry
Name is a disgrace to the locals/location end of discussion for me, go football game parachute team.
Brian
Guess what, Vegas residents? IT’S NOT YOUR TEAM! If you want to name a team, but one. The Golden Knights aren’t the first team to have a name that isn’t associated with the city, but with the owner, and it won’t be the last. I grew up a in Chicago where there aren’t any bears, bulls, or cubs running around the city. And the Black Hawks were named after the owner’s Army unit. I know Chicagoans don’t care so long as they are all winning; and I don’t think any of us will hear the phrase ‘Stanley Cup Champions a Vegas Golden Knights’ and think “what a stupid name”, so get over yourselves.
I, for one, am grateful the Creator didn’t fall into the Vegas gimmick trap.
JP
“It’s not your team.”
Yet, its their hard earned dollars spent on tickets, concessions and merchandise that are going to either make or break Bill Foley as an owner. Also, with due respect, Chicago was long ago established as a Major League sports town. Las Vegas is making their maiden voyage into professional sports.
Brian
Well, if people don’t go to the games or support the team in general because of the name, then this team and city as it comes to professional sports is doomed to begin with.
Alex
I’m a Kings fan in Southern California. I’ve been following this site since you guys have been getting all the good name/logo updates before the official reveal – I’m a bit of a uniform & team logo geek. So here’s some thoughts from your rival fan base.
The name is fine on its own, but I have not been excited that it is thematically close to Kings. However, since the helmet looks more like a gladiator helmet, it does a good job of distancing the theme from the Kings’ generic medieval theme.
The color scheme is also very good, I just hope than when the jerseys come out that black isn’t too prominent. The Kings have emphasized black in their color scheme since the 80’s and I gave my Ducks-fan friends a bunch of crap when Anaheim switched over to a predominately black uniform 10 years ago.
James
I’m not sure about the gray. Is this colour blue or gray? It’s totally different from Army’s gray. I read that the blue/gray will be the main home jersey colour. Gold seems more appropriate
JP
I think Joey summarized it best.
From Day 1, Bill Foley has established ground work that he is going to do whatever he wants with the team, regardless of fan feedback. The fact that Golden Knights was selected, despite it being the overwhelmingly least liked of the three cements that its HIS team, and all about HIM, not the target audience who is ultimately going to make or break him. Yes, we get he is proud of his time in West Point.. And he should be. However, Las Vegas is far from a traditional hockey market. When you are trying to grow a market, the last thing you want to do is give the impression that their opinon is irrelevant and make the team all about YOU. A large number of the residents of Las Vegas couldn’t give two squirts about the fact that The Creator loves West Point, and it was obvious from the emphatic negative reponse to the Black Knights name when it was floated out there as the name desired before (ironically enough) West Point put the kibosh to it. From a Las Vegas resident perspective, this is their first ever professional sports franchise. They want a say on what it is going to be named. Yet, when the majority of the fans choices were shot down and given one flawed logical reason or another (when truth is, the name wasn’t in the cards because it didn’t fit his West Point infatuation), and the three Knights were presented, they still showed they were willing to accept a compromise, and let it be known when they overwhelmingly voted in favor of Desert Knights, with some even showing support for Silver Knights. At least if one of those had been picked, it would have shown their opinion DOES matter. However, once again, the MY TEAM, MY HOUSE mentality came out and you gave a clear cut message. Purchase tickets, purchase merchandise (which fittingly were some of the final comments made at the unveiling yesterday) and be sure to put money in my pocket but don’t expect to have a say in anything. Yes, $500 million was spent on the team.. However the above is going to be the approach, and it seems clear it is, with due respect, don’t be surprised when you don’t get the return on investment you are hopeful of. You cannot alienate your target audience PERIOD, and Bill Foley has managed to do just this right out of the gates. With many other things to do in Las Vegas, and the probabilty of the Raiders coming to town being more and more real by the day (the NFL sells itself.. these issues won’t be had with them.. The NHL isn’t in that same boat) this team had to fire out the gates and let the people know this product is worth investing in and that their dollar is appreciated. Step one was a pretty inauspicious start.
Also, don’t get me started on the Vegas/Las Vegas bit. Plenty of cities have abbreviations or “nicknames.” Yet you don’t see teams abbreviating or shortening their city name. You don’t see the NY Islanders, Philly Flyers, NY Rangers, LA Kings or SJ Sharks. Also, to say all residents call it Vegas is tripe. More call it by its official name than the tourist variety. It sounds amateurish and bush league. But hey.. Las Vegas Golden Knights was too long to say and be damned if the city name take a front seat over The Creator’s West Point stiffy.
Tom
I agree 100%. The only good thing (for me) is that I couldn’t stand the name Desert Knights, so I guess I’m kinda glad he was hard-headed to a degree. But yeah, it was his way or the highway from the jump. What’s funny to me is that he was saying that the name was “worth the wait” and that made me think for a minute he had a surprise for us. Didn’t he read the results of the polls? If everybody said they hate Golden Knights, then what made him think we were gonna change out minds when the reveal went down?? Seriously
Jeff
Pretty intelligent post except I don’t necessarily agree with the Vegas /Las Vegas thing. Vegas is VERY commonly referred to as VEGAS. You’d never hear anyone calling NYC as York or LA as Angeles. Guaranteed that Golden will be gone within 5 years as soon as copy write issues can be worked out.
For me Mr. Foley deserves a great deal of latitude here. He is the first one with balls enough to put a pro sport team here and hockey to boot. I wouldn’t have cared if he called it Foley’s Knights…I’d still be there.
Vince
This is my exact initial response on the dot. Born and raised in LAS Vegas it’s prideful to say you’re from here. It’s definitely a slap in my face personally.
With that said……I’m sure I’ll get over it after awhile and decide to finally buy merchandise when I’m done being salty.
Mickey B
THIS.
Absolutely spot on.
Mickey B
To be clear, I was referring to JP’s post. Well said.
DaveVegasNews
Incredibly well said JP, this should be made an open letter to Foley and the team, Ken make it happen! Should he marketing and sales for this team fail in the years that come and Id bet they do (jmo) it can squarely be put n Foley.
Go Desert Knights!
Yawn
100% agree. I couldn’t have said ignore better.
Yawn
Errr dumb auto correct fail. Couldn’t have said it better JP. Spot on!
Tom
I kinda thought Adidas or someone with pull would step in and steer him away from adding yet another black and yellowish team to the league but I guess money talks. Ok so the name kinda sucks, but we’ll call it Knights anyways and like people are saying the prefix will probably fade away officially Eventually. And the colors are a little played out. But maybe they’ll use the tertiary colors a little .ore predominantly and that would help freshen it up. On the bright side, we have our team. Thanks Mr. Foley. I know I talk alot of shit but I’m just passionate about my first true home team. Thanks for making it a reality. We’ve got our team, we’ve got the sexiest building in the league, life is good. Can’t wait for 2018
A Fan
Not much to add from the @Joey comments above, pretty much spot on. @Brian way off.
It is apparent that Mr. Foley was going to have a ‘Knights’ name no matter what we thought. Personally I liked the ‘Las Vegas Mustangs.’ A wild horse in the NV desert. Could have done great marketing with that and it leaves the ‘Las’ on the name as it should be. I’ve been here for 25+ years and I don’t hear most locals say ‘Vegas’ as compared to ‘Las Vegas.’ He couldn’t do a 4 word team name, that would be a disaster marketing wise, but he just had to have that ‘Knights’ name. I believe he couldn’t do just the ‘Knights’ name alone because of a conflict with some Canadian team, not sure if that’s really true or he just wanted the military part included in the name no matter what and since being denied ‘Black Knights’ by the military, he went with ‘Golden Knights’ which is a Army parachute team.
Mr. Foley is a very successful business man, but I honestly don’t believe his $$$billions were made via marketing. That being said, I want to thank him for bringing us a NHL team to ‘LAS Vegas.’ I will support the team even not liking the name. Most of us will get used to it once we drop the puck for the first time. Most people will just call them the ‘Knights’ anyway and down the road the ‘Golden’ will probably get dropped as some other pro teams have done also. Go Knights!!
Brian
I definitely came off as a douche above, because I’m just tired of hearing people here whine about the name. It’s not in my top ten choices, but I’ve already established that I don’t feel the Creator owes us anything in the name; he needs to provide the resources for his staff to put a quality product in the ice.
My point really is what you said–despite how you feel about the name, your dedication to go all in for this team supersedes that. Others don’t seem to feel that way.
Ron Murphy
Wow, Joey and Paula seem charming…” Don’t like being called “Vegas” so I’m not going to all the games”?…what would happen when we lose a game?..or 2 or 3 in a row?…”I just don’t care anymore “?..hide the weapons
Brian
Maybe the plan is after our first 3 game losing streak, Foley will change the name to something popular to draw them back.
Michael
As people have said, humans adjust. For the heck of it, I looked at all the other NHL logos again today, and not many of them are too startlingly amazing. Only a few would have drawn warm reviews if released as our logo. I think the logo is strong, and if the uniforms match that strength, the overall look and vibe will be excellent in time.
Black Knight
As a West Point grad living in Las Vegas who attended the unveiling, my first thought when I saw the logo was “Huh, that looks oddly familiar.” (Seriously, look at the current Army Black Knights logo). Maybe that is why I LOVE the primary logo and the secondary is very creative. Don’t buy all that garbage about gold being added because Nevada produces the most or black representing power and intensity though. This team’s colors were chosen the second Foley thought of creating a team. If it wasn’t for McPhee adding the red, it would have exactly matched the black, gray, and gold of Army.
That being said, I’m not a big fan of Golden Knights as the name. I love West Point as much as Foley does but it is just boring. Maybe I’m just disappointed because of what it COULD have been. The culture, history, and environment around Las Vegas lends itself to some great team name options and this name feels forced upon us.
When you put it in perspective however, it isn’t the worst name in the league. Just look at the other teams…is Golden Knights worse than Maple Leafs, Senators, Blue Jackets, Islanders, Canucks, Stars, Canadiens, Blues, Capitals, Flyers, Ducks, or Penguins? If I was starting a team, I’m taking Golden Knights over all of these bland, uninspiring names.
Either way, I would rather have a team with a lame name and great logo than no team at all. Thanks Foley.
Beat Navy.
A Fan
@Black Knight makes some very valid points, some which I had thought myself. The colors and logo are all Black Knights, now just with the Golden Knights name instead. He was stuck on that name/color/logo type from the start and never considered the change to something without Knights, or at least he didn’t consider it longer than 5 minutes I’m guessing. Nevada may have gold mines, but you never hear much mention of it really, so I agree with @Black Knight that was just an excuse to justify the name Golden. Golden is California, ‘The Golden State,’ ‘Golden Warriors’, etc. But as we all know, most people will just call them the ‘Knights’ anyway. He should have figured out a way to name the team the Las Vegas Knights if he had to have the Knights name. He said he wanted a team color that pops, I was assuming he meant something that pops like the Flyers orange, I can’t imagine any pop in black & gold? A couple people have said it was his $500M so he can name it what he wants. Well there may be some truth to that, but there is no doubt he could have came up with a better name even just for marketing reasons and made himself more money on merchandise. I stood in line Tuesday night and went in the store and left with nothing. Mustangs, Aces or Scorpions were all much better names and would have looked much better with the logo. But as I mentioned before, thank you Mr. Foley for bringing us a NHL team and I will support it. I may not buy as much merchandise as you had hoped, but the Vegas Golden Knights is now my team. Go Knights!
MJS
Some of these people are taking the name & logo a bit too personally – It’s Foley’s team and he put up the $500+M entry fee just to get the team to this point.
I do think Foley’s insistence on forcing “KNIGHTS” into the name limited more creative possibilities, but the name isn’t all that terrible – For Pete’s sake we could be the Utah JAZZ – WTF does JAZZ have to do with anything SLC or Utah?!?!
Let’s focus on more important issues like the expansion draft, the regular player draft, the jersey’s/sweaters and what type of TV outlet will carry the games – Will it be a local channel or will the LV area get one of those Fox/Root regional sports stations ??
I’m behind the team and i’m getting some shirts & hats and looking forward to October 2017 when the puck drops !
Dwayne Lucyk
Now that Vegas Golden Knights has been decided upon, whether you like the official name or not, it’s on with the next show of unveiling the actual Adidas home and away jerseys, pants, helmets, and socks. Forget about using new technology, that can fail, to launch this for the next highly anticipated, exciting show. Foley should book the Exalabar arena and opt for a “YE gOLDEN DAYS” live medieval joust with a mounted Knight wearing full hockey equipment, using a hockey stick instead of a lance vs a mounted King. The point being, use “live” creative entertainment, not a screen, to launch the new jerseys. That should not be too difficult in Las Vegas, I mean Vegas.
SZ7
Mixed feelings on the name, but leaning positive. I think it’s great that Las Vegas has a team, and it sounds like it’ll be off to a fun start next year. I just hope that the novelty doesn’t wear off and the fan base grows naturally. I had my fingers crossed the whole time that they were going to shock everyone by going with Aces or Scorpions after all, but I was prepared for the whatever Knights. I actually preferred Silver, of the three finalists. And as far as dropping the Las goes, it’s not the only team tweaking the location name (Carolina, Tampa Bay). The team joins the Wild, Blue Jackets, Golden Seals, and Mighty Ducks on the weirdest team names from NHL history. But so what, I’m gonna cheer them on if I can get to a game next time I’m there. And I do like the logo and the color scheme.
Jason Pothier
Everyone great comments. Glad you all were able to address your concerns. As for me, I really like the logos. The Las Vegas/Vegas saga is another issue. However, we have a team now and play starts in under a year.
Happy Thanksgiving fellow Puckheads,
Jason
James
I hate to rub salt in the wound, but Bill Foley told Bob McCown that he probably could have worked something out with the London Knights. Foley said he preferred Something Knights.
Did he not engage in coversation with the London Knights because he didn’t want to write another cheque, which is totally understandable. Or does he genuinely prefer Someting Knights. Vegas Golden Knights is closer to Army Black Knights. Las Vegas Knights is not as close to Army Black Knights.
Something to bear in mind if he sells his 91 percent stake in the team down the road. Although, if you are going to change the team name from Vegas Golden Knights to Las Vegas Knights, you might as well discard Knights and have a name the team contest.
James
Interesting nugget from George McPhee on Hockey Central At Noon. Bill Foley lost 30 classmates in the Vietnam War. Foley views the name Knights as a tribute to his fallen classmates.
Ken Boehlke
You have a link to that?
James
Link to Bill Foley with Bob McCown;
http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand-4/Bill-Foley-with-Bob-McCown-and-Damien-Cox-pts-20161123-Interview.mp3
Link to George McPhee on Hockey Central @ Noon:
Hockey Central @ Noon – November 23rd Wednesday
Released23 November 2016
Leafs lose vs Hurricanes; George McPhee, GM for the Vegas Golden Knights on logo, name and market; Brent Burns signs extension with Sharks; HHOFer Doug Gilmour talks about his charity fundraiser for Brain Cancer
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/hockey-central-noon/id354153569?mt=2
or
To go straight to the George McPhee interview on the web click on the following image;
Golden Knights GM on HC@12
http://www.sportsnet.ca/590/hockey-central-at-noon/
Ken Boehlke
Thanks!
DaveVegasNews
Hold the phone, maybe if he feels so strong now its because….because…wait no reason really based on what I can see he never fought a day with any of them in Vietnam and secondly the class was nearly 900. Not like he went to war with a group of 50 guys and 30 died. God only knows if he ever knew those 30 men. A real man who was so close to his class mates and would live and die with them would have went to fight with them as well.
Why didn’t he go to Vietnam because as with most rich kids, daddy. Got to go give the Air Force a try and FAILED as if by looking at him you can’t tell his eye sight is bad and he knew he wouldn’t have to fly shit. Ended up doing contracts in an office for millions.
It reads like a wannabe with a very odd and unexplainable tie to something he was never truly a part of. Now rich enough he pushes this fantasy literally because again where did he serve? on others. Selling his west point KNIGHTS story to an unsuspecting audience.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/businessman-behind-nhl-drive-has-blue-jeans-relaxed-approach
To me any less service would involve simply dodging the draft.
“The academy’s strict regimen didn’t go well for Foley, who described himself as a “goof-off” in high school who had good grades and enjoyed sports.
“I would see a chipmunk at West Point and I would say he was lucky — he was free,” Foley said.
After his 1967 graduation, most West Point graduates were assigned to Vietnam. Not Foley. As the son of an Air Force officer, Foley was allowed to enter the Air Force. He wanted to be a fighter pilot.
But Foley’s eyesight was not 20/20, dashing his pilot career and prompting his assignment to Seattle, where he negotiated millions of dollars worth of federal military contracts with Boeing.
In Seattle, Foley met his wife, Carol, then a flight attendant.”
Why are the Army and Knights so deep in his heart? God only knows, maybe its the connections for business he made at that time in the offices doing deals where he “served”.
James
Link to Bill Foley with Bob McCown;
http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand-4/Bill-Foley-with-Bob-McCown-and-Damien-Cox-pts-20161123-Interview.mp3
James
Link to George McPhee on Hockey Central @ Noon:
Hockey Central @ Noon – November 23rd Wednesday
Released23 November 2016
Leafs lose vs Hurricanes; George McPhee, GM for the Vegas Golden Knights on logo, name and market; Brent Burns signs extension with Sharks; HHOFer Doug Gilmour talks about his charity fundraiser for Brain Cancer
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/hockey-central-noon/id354153569?mt=2
James
or
To go straight to the George McPhee interview on the web click on the following image;
Golden Knights GM on HC@12
http://www.sportsnet.ca/590/hockey-central-at-noon/
DaveVegasNews
This is who is on stage selling us Army just remember that and the men he cared so much about who he honors by naming everything Knights. If I am wrong fine but according to that article he didn’t fire a single shot in Nam.
Hold the phone, maybe if he feels so strong now its because….because…wait no reason really based on what I can see he never fought a day with any of them in Vietnam and secondly the class was nearly 900. Not like he went to war with a group of 50 guys and 30 died. God only knows if he ever knew those 30 men. A real man who was so close to his class mates and would live and die with them would have went to fight with them as well.
Why didn’t he go to Vietnam because as with most rich kids, daddy. Got to go give the Air Force a try and FAILED as if by looking at him you can’t tell his eye sight is bad and he knew he wouldn’t have to fly shit. Ended up doing contracts in an office for millions.
It reads like a wannabe with a very odd and unexplainable tie to something he was never truly a part of. Now rich enough he pushes this fantasy literally because again where did he serve? on others. Selling his west point KNIGHTS story to an unsuspecting audience.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/businessman-behind-nhl-drive-has-blue-jeans-relaxed-approach
To me any less service would involve simply dodging the draft.
“The academy’s strict regimen didn’t go well for Foley, who described himself as a “goof-off” in high school who had good grades and enjoyed sports.
“I would see a chipmunk at West Point and I would say he was lucky — he was free,” Foley said.
After his 1967 graduation, most West Point graduates were assigned to Vietnam. Not Foley. As the son of an Air Force officer, Foley was allowed to enter the Air Force. He wanted to be a fighter pilot.
But Foley’s eyesight was not 20/20, dashing his pilot career and prompting his assignment to Seattle, where he negotiated millions of dollars worth of federal military contracts with Boeing.
In Seattle, Foley met his wife, Carol, then a flight attendant.”
Why are the Army and Knights so deep in his heart? God only knows, maybe its the connections for business he made at that time in the offices doing deals where he “served”.
DaveVegasNews
“Interesting nugget from George McPhee on Hockey Central At Noon. Bill Foley lost 30 classmates in the Vietnam War. Foley views the name Knights as a tribute to his fallen classmates.”
Its almost disgusting how they try to justify the logo or name by making it seem he fought along side these men without full disclosure.
DaveVegasNews
To add to it the gold mines they claim they got golden from (not fooling most we know its Army parachute team) is NOT EVEN American owned!
The back story and nearly all this is totally misleading or grossly under researched. Not that Foley cares, he ignored our voices for a fantasy that if looked at closer is beyond odd.
So be proud of our Golden Knights that team that was named after a gold mine no where near us owned by Canadians or someone that was just a cover story for a parachute team that comes from an Army that rejected our owner probably because the man’s service record is not exactly John McCain esq. and a clear ripoff of THEIR identity and their identity alone.
Ya our Team name is built upon half truths and fantasy, great…but no worries most sheeple will never know this, right.
JP
I got a major kick out of how he tried to put a Nevada spin on the Golden part.
He couldn’t have Black Knights.. Wanted to appease his West Point itch… Golden Knights, being the parachute team of the Army, was the next best thing..
Part of me deep down knew from the moment the three Knights were presented, it was going to be Golden for that reason…
It isn’t so much that he picked the name.. I’ve heard far worse names in the NHL (Wild????) than Golden Knights.. However, what I have major issue with is the fact that he made this about HIM… His vision.. His team… As I said in my rant above, this was his house, his rules.. So why put on a facade that the fans ever had a say? If he had come right out with this instead of dragging ass for 5 months and putting on a front that the people were going to name the team, I think there might be some more acceptance of the name.. As is, many of us feel like we were all part of Bill’s game but never got a turn.
LJ M
Hey I’m a York Yankees fan and I root for the Angeles Dodgers and the York Jets and the Louis Blues and the City Chiefs oh let’s not forget the Bay Packers , England Patriots, Francisco Giants and On and on and on ! Point is it is LAS VEGAS unless you don’t come from there ! LAS VEGAS BLACK JACKS would have rocked!
FuckVegas
Your logo should of been one of sucking bettmans cock. After all he bent the rules for you so you would have a competitive team. Screw you and your fucking team. Must be nice to be able to have every teams’ second best player on your roster. Rot in hell Vegas. The NHL is a fucking joke.