Vegas Golden Knights making sure they look after their own

We are officially at the one week mark since the Vegas Golden Knights last hit a competitive puck in anger, although the organization picked up a big win off the ice today.

The Vegas Golden Knights are currently on a hiatus after the NHL hit the pause button on the 2019-20 regular season due to the pandemic coronavirus.

All other major sports have either been suspended or cancelled operations due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19, and there is no clear timeline on when things will begin to return to normal.

Of course, the health of everyone should be of paramount importance and novel things like sports rightly take the back seat during scary times such as these.

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However, while those of us who cling to sports for comfort are struggling right now, there are those who are more directly affected from this current hiatus across the board.

For those people who work in arenas on a day-to-day basis and game night staff, this is an incredibly uncertain and worrying time with no clear timeline on when sports may be able to resume.

There were thousands upon thousands of hard-working people facing uncertain futures because of the coronavirus, many of whom live pay check by pay check.

However, started by Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, teams across all the major sports soon came out and made it clear that they would still pay those affected by professional sports leagues suspending operations.

And, after a bevy of teams had already done so, the Vegas Golden Knights have now also stepped up to support their own.

Announced today, Owner Bill Foley will pledge a minimum of $500,000 to part-time and hourly gameday employees at T-Mobile Arena.

And, not only that, but Golden Knights Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will also donate $100,000 of his own money to help those directly affected by the NHL hitting the pause button on the regular season.

The donation will cover the Golden Knights’ remaining home games, and will aid the arena cast and crew, hosts, interns, zamboni drivers, PA announcers and lots more.

Fleury has become the face of this franchise since being selected in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, and the goaltender’s generous donation epitomizes how much this team and city means to him.

Also, while some wondered why it took so long for Foley and the Golden Knights to follow in the footsteps of other teams by helping out arena workers, there is a simple answer.

Many employees inside T-Mobile Arena actually work for MGM and a bevy of other Third Party Companies, meaning that it wasn’t cut and dry when it came to making this donation straight away.

The main thing is that the Golden Knights have indeed stepped up to look after their own during these worrying times, as has Fleury who has really taken this franchise into his heart.

At a time where so many things are in limbo, it is at least comforting to see so many people within the sports world do what they can to ensure that those who work so hard behind the scenes when the magic happens get looked after.