11:14 AM: City National Arena
Our players just finished up on the ice a few minutes ago. As mentioned earlier, morning skate is more of a warmup than it is an actual practice. Very little instruction occurs during morning skate.
It's just to get players active and feeling good. It's also a great opportunity for media to interview players, away from the focus that often accompanies postgame scenarios.
Our players are speaking to some media -- a little larger of a contingent than usual -- right now and will head home. One of those players was James Neal, who's still recovering from a broken hand, but started practicing with teammates.
Neal broke his hand while playing for the Nashville Predators in the playoffs last year. Hear more from Neal.
10:36 AM: City National Arena
An old tradition in hockey is the morning skate. Most teams stage their morning skate, a brief warmup in the morning where players get their legs moving, at their home arena.
The Golden Knights will instead be hosting their morning skates at City National Arena, the team's practice facility. With most of the players living in the suburbs, this allows them to only have to drive to the Strip once per day.
Players prefer to go home and nap between morning skate and games. Holding morning skaters closer to where players live allows for an easier, more convenient game day routine for them.
