Vegas Golden Knights may have to sacrifice strength in order for sports to return

Everything is in limbo right now and the Vegas Golden Knights may have to sacrifice one of their greatest strengths if they want to resume the 2019-20 NHL season.

We are currently swimming in murky rivers right now when it comes to the immediate future of sports and the NHL, with the Vegas Golden Knights facing the very real danger of not being able to finish what they started this year.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the sporting world is on lockdown and there is no clear date for a return to normality given that the virus is still at its dangerous peak in many ways.

Fighting this pandemic and slowing the spread is the most important priority, so trivial things such as sports and concerts will rightly have to remain on pause until the current landscape has significantly changed.

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When that will be isn’t a straightforward answer, and it isn’t one that anyone can outright predict, either.

Of course, sports and hockey in particular is a huge part of our lives and we all want to see the Golden Knights back on the ice doing what they do best.

We’ve covered in-depth the bevy of proposals that have been floated around when it comes to what the NHL could look like if it returns this year, and you can delve into a few below:

However, and as has been the case throughout the coronavirus crisis, new developments are emerging on a daily basis and it appears that the Golden Knights may have to sacrifice their greatest asset if they want to play again this year.

Because, days after NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman extended the self-quarantine period for players to April 30, a couple of interesting nuggets emerged on Wednesday.

First, it was revealed that during a Conference Call with President Donald Trump and major league sports commissioners and other sports leaders yesterday, that the President is keen for sports to return and sees the industry as crucial to helping America reopen for business.

But, on the other end of the spectrum, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Advisor to President Donald Trump, stated to Peter Hamby of SnapChat that the only way sports will return this year is if fans aren’t present.

Basically, what Dr. Fauci believes is the only logical path for hockey and other sports to return anytime soon is for games to be played without fans, while teams and players will have to stay in hotels while games are being played.

Dr. Fauci, who has become the leading voice when it comes to the United States’ fight against COVID-19, also stated that players would have to be tested on a weekly basis until the season has been completed.

What does this mean for the Golden Knights?

It is a double-edged sword.

Hockey and sports returning in general this year would be fantastic, and it would be outstanding if a 2019-20 Stanley Cup Champion can be crowned at some point during the summer.

For the Golden Knights, who are built to win now, they would at least get the chance to finish what they started this year and compete for the Stanley Cup.

Plus, thanks to the current hiatus, the Knights will have a healthy roster with the likes of Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch all now having had extra time to recover from their respective ailments.

However, watching hockey without fans is going to be one weird experience and it will only get weirder once the playoffs begin.

After all, the atmosphere is what helps to make the postseason so special and especially in hockey when you have the rally towels and team-specific traditions such as the ‘White Out’ in Winnipeg.

Then you have the Golden Knights.

Despite only entering the league in 2017, Vegas has become a hockey hotbed and the atmosphere inside T-Mobile Arena is a spectacle to really behold.

That is just on regular season gamedays. Come playoff time, the Golden Knights’ passionate and diehard fans turn T-Mobile Arena into some sort of nightclub on steroids.

Winnipeg Jets fans bring on the ‘whiteout’ as the Winnipeg Jets took on the St. Louis Blues in Game One of the Western Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell MTS Place on April 10, 2019. /

A lot of steroids.

It makes for an intimidating building for opposing teams to come into, and even a bevy of players have voiced just how hard it is to play in Vegas during the postseason.

Therefore, playing either in-front of an empty T-Mobile Arena or in some random building in Arizona or North Dakota will take away a huge advantage for the Golden Knights.

When the going gets tough, Vegas can really draw upon the energy being generated from their raucous home crowd and use it as an extra source of motivation.

That now looks set to be missing if hockey does return this year.

Of course, you wouldn’t be able to blame another First Round exit on no fans in the building as every team will be in the same situation, while the Golden Knights boast enough weapons on the roster to be able to make a deep run, fans or no fans.

But, you can’t underestimate the role a raucous crowd can play in swinging the momentum of a game, and there will be a few teams in that boat.

Plus, while most if not all of us will be flocking to the TV for every game in order to satisfy our crazy hockey cravings, no fans in the building will take some of the gloss off a playoff matchup.

There is no getting around that.

It is something we may have to get used to, though.

With no vaccine for COVID-19 likely to be available for at least 18 months, it is feasible that all major sports may have to play in-front of empty arenas for the duration of 2020-21 too.

Let’s hope that’s not the case but this is the new world we live in and, if it meant having hockey and our Vegas Golden Knights back, then playing without fans is a sacrifice that will need to made.

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It is far from ideal for the Golden Knights but, given the bigger picture, it will be worth it if it means they get the opportunity to attend to unfinished business in 2019-20.

And that’s what we all want as sports fans.

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