Golden Knights Stanley Cup parade in Las Vegas to have deeper meaning

LAS VEGAS -- The 1-mile chunk of Las Vegas Boulevard between Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue is arguably the most famous stretch of road on the planet, lined by swank casinos, omnipresent flashing neon, dancing fountains and even a nearby replica of the Eiffel Tower.

On Saturday, it will also be a path of healing.

It is here where the Vegas Golden Knights will share their celebration of their Stanley Cup victory with an evening parade like no other, primarily because of the setting known as The Strip.

But there is a far deeper meaning here.

Almost six years after this area was a center of tears, there will be cheers, thanks to the Golden Knights.

And that's a good thing.

On Oct. 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel at a crowd below attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival, killing 60 people. More than 850 were injured in the incident.

Nine days later, the expansion Golden Knights won their first home game, 5-2 against the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena. More importantly, this team, the area's first among the so-called "big four" professional sports -- hockey, baseball, football and basketball -- helped a broken community recover. It honored first responders. Players visited police stations and fire halls. It raised money for the victims' families through various charities. On the ice, it provided a distraction in a place that needed one.

It's been doing it ever since.

And, on Saturday, 2,086 days after the tragedy, tears of joy will replace tears of sorrow when the parade ends less than 2 miles from where the shooting took place.

"We should be proud," owner Bill Foley said Friday. "We should be proud of what we've accomplished in this community."

George McPhee couldn't agree more.

The 64-year-old is the Golden Knights president of hockey operations. Like his players, his coaches and the entire fan base, he partied it up after Vegas' title-clinching 9-3 victory against the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday, though he said he's not much of a drinker.

"I think I only had three beers," he said with a chuckle.

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For McPhee, there are different ways to pay tribute to the franchise's six-season journey to the championship, none more than appreciating the Golden Knights' contributions to helping Las Vegas get back on its feet.

"Yes, it's great to win a Stanley Cup ring, but the experience of sharing it with this group of players is what's amazing," said McPhee, who was general manager from 2016-19 before promoting Kelly McCrimmon to the position. "But the uplift that you get to give to a city is really what matters.

"Despite all the parties and everything else, the last couple of nights for me, well, I might still get a chance to do this, but if I could have gone home that night and just walked around the neighborhood with my wife without anyone around, I would have said, 'We delivered. We delivered for Bill Foley. We delivered for the organization. But more than anything, we delivered for this city.'"

He admitted the feeling of being on top of the hockey world is still fresh, still surreal. He said he spent hour upon hour watching NHL Network on Wednesday, trying to wrap his head around the constant references to the Golden Knights being Stanley Cup champions.

"The thing is, they can't take it away from you," McPhee said. "I used to hear others say that all the time. Now I understand it firsthand."

So do his players, who are likely still celebrating as you read this.

In the aftermath of the victory against the Panthers, the idea was floated of a couple of players going to Rock Creek Cattle Company, Foley's golf course and cattle ranch in Deer Lodge, Montana. Soon everyone wanted to join in. By Thursday morning, four private planes were whisking the entire team there, accompanied by wives, the first arriving about 11 a.m.

There was golf, followed by ATV riding, Foley said. Dinner was about 8:30 p.m. followed by libations at the Last Shot Bar. Foley had everything set up for the team, including poker games complete with dealers.

"It's like the bonding trip [the team] had there in October," Foley said. "They saw the sun come up, then they went to play more golf."

As Foley was addressing the media, he pointed out that the Stanley Cup was still in Montana. It, like the players, would be working its way back to Las Vegas during the day Friday.

For Foley, McPhee, McCrimmon, coach Bruce Cassidy and all the players and support staff, the best is yet to come. The parade down The Strip, past such iconic Las Vegas landmarks as the Bellagio and Caesars Palace, will be the culmination of a dream realized.

And in the moment, as the championship motorcade rolls by the hundreds of thousands of fans expected to attend, the ensuing cheers will be for more than just a Stanley Cup title.

It will be a city's collective way of saying thank you for helping the healing process. And, McPhee said, it will remind him of that memorable first home game in 2017.

"I remember [us] scoring the first goal and the way the crowd reacted," he said. "They almost blew the roof off.

"It was probably the first time that whole week for people to celebrate something."

On Saturday, they'll be doing it again. And, once again, the Golden Knights will be the reason.