2020 VGK Memories

It will be easy to look back on the year 2020 as a whole with negative memories after the calendar has been turned. Throughout a year unlike any other for generations, there are positives to take with us in our next lap around the sun.
The Vegas Golden Knights had their ups and downs on the ice in 2020 as the team sprinted to the top of the Pacific Division standings in February, saw the world slam on the brakes in March, captured the top seed in the Western Conference in August and heard the final horn sound in September at the end of a length playoff run.

A retrospective glance at the year that was for the Golden Knights would show the ways in which the team made its fans feel joy, excitement and happiness in a tumultuous time. Whether it was a thrilling overtime goal, a funny Zoom interview, a moment captured on video from the bubble or a reminder of the strength in the Las Vegas community, the positive VGK memories to take from 2020 are ones that will stay with Golden Knights fans forever.
Members of the Vegas broadcast team, as well as Golden Knights fans on Twitter, shared their favorite memory from the start of a new decade of hockey in the desert.
Dan D'Uva, Radio Play-By-Play
It worked. Our first Return to Play radio broadcast aired July 30, an exhibition game versus Arizona. A friend sent me a text afterward: "I thought you weren't going to be in Edmonton for the games?" My friend, who had tuned in for a good chunk of the broadcast, was off. Gary Lawless and I were not in the Rogers Place press box. We called this, and each Golden Knights postseason game, from a makeshift studio at City National Arena. But on this day, we had, at least for one discerning listener, created the impression of being inside the bubble. Good sign!
Our objective was simple: Allow you, the listener, to experience the game as normal - to feel the intensity and picture the action in your mind's eye - and not dwell on the abnormality of our situation. The game is the thing. Making this happen, of course, was the challenge. Putting out an excellent broadcast involves a great deal of effort and ingenuity from several people, and while I was at first apprehensive of how it would play out, the crew tasked with making it happen delivered.
Scotty from Star Trek would have been impressed. Joe Sands and Ray Ragle, our radio engineers, invented audio solutions for ice effects and signal delays, exemplified troubleshooting and pushed all the right buttons. Harvin Chavez, who I call the "VGK IT guru", devised a video setup better than Captain Kirk's view on the Enterprise bridge. Helmsman Garrett Calloway did it all, from stats to logistics to keeping our video signals in sync. Sage Sammons was our communications lieutenant in Edmonton, helping us secure access to players and coaches for interviews. Our partners at the NHL and Lotus Broadcasting also stepped up.
I wish Gary and I could've beamed down to a broadcast booth in Edmonton, but our crew in Las Vegas created an environment in which we could focus on hockey and journalism. In a year with so many setbacks, so much sadness and so little to feel good about, the collaboration of our crew made me proud and reminded me what can be achieved when people strive for excellence.
Gary Lawless, VGK Insider
It started out as a typical night on the road during an NHL season. After a day of work preparing for a game in St. Paul to be played the next night against the Minnesota Wild, our group of team broadcasters headed out for dinner. Dave Goucher, Shane Hnidy and I grabbed seats at the bar at a downtown restaurant. After dinner we headed to a sports bar to watch a few games where we were joined by Dan D'Uva. Shortly after, news broke stating the NBA season had been put on pause. Soon we began to hear the NHL season would also likely be postponed for the interim due to COVID-19.
It was the beginning of a strange odyssey. Games wouldn't be played until August and the Stanley Cup was eventually awarded in September.
That night in St. Paul, we had no idea what was in front of us. But it was a different night and feeling than any we'd ever experienced. We had drinks and laughs cast in gallows humor. In the ensuing months, we worked together as an organization to be prepared for when hockey resumed, and the team performed well on the ice reaching the Western Conference Final.
When hockey resumes once again it will be forever changed. New protocols and a heightened vigilance on safety will forever be part of the game. Travel, fans and schedules are no longer givens. Neither is a night out for dinner on the road with colleagues talking about the league, games past and those upcoming. The game and the way of life for those working in it have been missed. The places and faces we have taken for granted are hopefully on the horizon. Does absence make the heart grow fonder? Absolutely.
Stormy Buonantony, Rinkside Reporter
Here are a few quick hitters of VGK moments that made me smile looking back on 2020. I hope they can make some of you crack a grin as well! (In no particular order)
- When the VGK had a 9-1-0 hot streak going and our AT&T graphics producer made a lower third that read "We're going streaking."
- When Pete DeBoer was hired NINE months after that one thing happened in the post-season with the Sharks (we don't need to get in to all that) and said joining the Golden Knights at first would be "A little awkward. Like meeting an ex-girlfriend when it didn't end well." Classic.
- Early in "The Pause" when Marc-Andre Fleury was busy running errands, but still made time for a Knight Life interview… from his car… at the post office. What a guy.
- When the VGK fan base helped us raise more than $275K during our Charity Knight broadcast!
- All the blank stares Gary Lawless gives me when I make bad jokes on TV. I THINK I'M FUNNY, OK?! -- Gary is probably reading this and making that same face as we speak ;)
- When the VGK hosted the 1980 Men's US Gold Medal winning hockey team for their 40th anniversary "Miracle on Ice" celebration. So. Dang. Cool. I don't think I'll ever stop geeking out about that.
- All the weird/hilarious things that happened during "Fortress At Home" … If you know, you know.
- Ryan Reaves packing toy cars for the bubble so he could have play time Facetime with his son while apart.
- Jon Merrill's welcome home from the girls after the Western Conference Final. I'm not crying, YOU'RE CRYING!
- Getting to see Gage Quinney become the first #VegasBorn player to take the ice in an NHL game FOR his hometown Vegas Golden Knights. Started at the Santa Fe Station, now we here!
For as weird and challenging as this year has been, I could honestly go on and on with this list. Thank you all for the memories!
Daren Millard, TV Studio Host
After the stunning pause to the NHL season in March, followed by five months of uncertainty, the Golden Knights rolled into the bubble in Edmonton focused on nailing down the Western Conference's number one seed. A thrilling third period rally to secure the win in the opener against Dallas. Vegas then emerged on the right side of a back-and-forth encounter with the Stanley Cup Champions from St. Louis. The two victories set the stage for a skate for first place versus Colorado. The Avalanche had enjoyed the two regular season encounters between the clubs, but this would be different. Backed by a performance by Robin Lehner that would secure the Panda the title of number one goaltender the rest of the way, Vegas never trailed, the fourth lead of the game arriving on an Alex Tuch overtime goal. The Golden Knights launched the NHL's historic foray into Stanley Cup Playoff hockey in August with a brilliant 3-0 round robin record and staked to claim to the hottest team out of the break. It was a brilliant way to sooth a yearning for a much-anticipated NHL post season and raised hopes for an extended run. It was a unique time; nobody knew what to expect from a bubble environment and games without fans. Vegas skated with a swagger and backed it up. That opening week was just what we needed.
Mike McKenna, TV Studio Analyst
There are so many moments from 2020 that are worthy of inclusion, but in terms of sheer fun factor, was anything better than Nick Holden's field goal while in the Edmonton bubble? Jonathan Marchessault called it a 55-yarder, while my Canadian colleagues Daren Millard and Gary Lawless maintain it was more like 45 (CFL goal posts are at the front of the end zone). Regardless of actual distance it was a BOMB and something you don't see every day from a professional hockey player. Have you ever tried to boot a field goal? It's hard! Holden approached with perfect form and hammered it right down Broadway with a slight draw. What a spectacle! And his reaction was the best: calm confidence and satisfaction…with a mustache. The next pre-show on AT&T Sportsnet RMW Stormy said something to the effect of "…and Nick Holden, looking like Ray Finkle!" which of course warmed my 90's child heart. Any Ace Ventura reference is mega in my book. Somewhere a soccer-style kicker nicknamed "The Mule" is smiling.
Here are some tweets sent to us by Golden Knights fans on their favorite moments from 2020:

Tweet from @McNallyBaxter: Two weeks before the shutdown and our first trip to Vegas pic.twitter.com/KKuLcEqVul

Tweet from @19TanyaD: Reilly Smith scoring the only goal vs the Islanders. The suite wasn't too bad either 😋 pic.twitter.com/Jn0wS8O57S
Tweet from @dessertbarbie: William Karlson hat trick in Anaheim 2/23/20 pic.twitter.com/p4habKvjtf