I'm sitting at McCarran Airport on October 1, 2017, waiting for my flight to return to Detroit. I spent the weekend in Las Vegas with my father, checking out what the city had to offer. My disenchantment with my old home was growing for numerous reasons.
Old guard mentality. Lack of jobs, aside from the auto industry and mortgages. Snow. Needed to get away from my family, which had become extremely overbearing. All of these reasons left me looking for a new home.
Las Vegas was going to be it since I was impressed by its overall structure. No better place to be (and to start up a business) than Sin City, right? No snow, no drama, just opportunity and a chance to grow.
That's when the biggest tragedy in the city's history struck. I return to Detroit and am heading to work. Mind you, I was a college student at the time and was working at a deli. My co-worker immediately confronted me in a state of panic.
"Oh my God! Are you okay?"
"No, why? What happened?"
"You didn't hear the news?"
I checked the news and heard about the mass shooting that happened. 58 lives gone.
The news shook me to my very core. First, I was fortunate enough to make it out alive. Second, it put the term of community into perspective and rallying people around a common cause. We're not just talking about the Vegas Golden Knights here, you know. That means donating time to help people heal.
October 1st will serve as a reminder of the resiliency of Las Vegas
The mass shooting happened to fall on the Golden Knights' inaugural season. It was supposed to usher in a new era of Las Vegas sports as the Golden Knights started the toe-dipping into the four major sports.
The tragic event shook the entire community, yet it shook the new hockey team more. You can tell by the sheer emotion Deryk Engelland had during the Golden Knights' home opener in 2017-18. Listen to how choked up he was as he fought back tears.
It's hard to convey how monumental that was for the community. It was the rallying point not just for the community, but for the team.
Suddenly, the Golden Knights were winning games and won the Pacific Division. After that? Swept the Kings. Then, they punched the Sharks in the nose like they were looking for litigation. Then, they defeated the Winnipeg Jets. The Golden Knights did the improbable and made the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
What does #VegasStrong truly mean?
Of course, the Final didn't turn out as expected as Alex Ovechkin got his first Stanley Cup. Still, the message was clear: hockey was big in Sin City and it was here to stay.
The community rallied behind the Golden Knights after October 1st, becoming more invested with every win. That culminated in the ultimate payoff six years later, as Vegas took care of Florida in five games.
So what does #VegasStrong mean to me? It means a community that doesn't give up when adversity hits. It means doing the impossible. Las Vegas has become the city where the improbable becomes, well, probable. That started in 2017-18 with a magical Stanley Cup Final run.
Add us as a preferred source on Google