OT: Introducing the 2017-18 Black Knights

[GRADEN]

Well for those that know me, I am native to Chicago and lived there my entire life until recently. I have a family and now my family has a hockey team nearby . We are thrilled with this and Foley did just an amazing job of getting this done. The entertainment tax associated with the gauging expansion fee stinks but T-Mobile arena is quite beautiful and I'm excited to one day drive a few minutes to see a Blackhawks game!

On the name / colors / uniforms.... It's universal here that it's "meh".... Not good not bad, could have been worse, it's ok type of reaction. The logo is probably the best thing of the design.

So we will pick through teams rosters and then get approximately the 6th pick in a weak draft next year... So basically we will have nothing to start with as teams aren't allowed to release players drafted within their first 2-3 seasons of drafting them I believe.... It will be a team full of underachieving high picks and vets that were overpaid and underperformed.... And that's ok, it will take 3-4 years before competitive.

Excited about the expansion? Don't care?

We will be in the pacific with the californianans lol

[ADDinChicago]

I'm mixed. I already feel that the league (and most leagues) now have too many teams. I was a bit surprised that the NHL was the first to break into Las Vegas. I hate the idea of an unbalanced league and would have liked to seen Quebec City, Hamilton, ON or Seattle also get a franchise.

However, I feel this eventually will be good. I now have another travel destination to watch the Blackhawks. And maybe you guys now wind up with a Crawford, Hossa or Seabrook lol. In addition to some other named players from elsewhere as it seems a lot of teams are going to be leaving some higher salaries unprotected. (Sorry, I was apparently on a time out for a few days and gladly would have weighed in on this one sooner).

[GRADEN]

Timeout lol...

Yea we will have to eat some salary to fill it out but that's ok...

Just hired George McPhee... I dig it, he is a hockey lifer and is associated with winning... He knows players and GMs and is a great fit... Kudos Bill...

Of note/ nothing official on the name just seemed like it was leaked from bill himself so I'd say it's 90% Black Knights... He is a West Point grad and even has an LLC under this name so ummm yea

I am so excited... On the draft pick we will be given the 3rd best odds in lottery and will pick NO worse than 6.... So likely 6

We also have a new 17 mill hockey training facility that will also be available for public training and camps for kids !!!!!

Yea I thought nba / NFL first for sure...

And I thought QC would also get in and balance out but would they financially be able to do this ???

[ADDinChicago]

From what they briefly reported on air here, it sounds like it'll just be "Las Vegas Knights" as there is a trademark problem, the NHL doesn't really want another team starting with "Black" (most likely due to the Hawks recent success and sales they generate) and "Black Knights" is pretty much regarded as "belonging" to Army in the sports world.

edit: Here's an article about the trademarking issue http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/17069335/las-vegas-expansion-team-having-trademark-naming-issues-owner-says

As for QC, yes, they have money. The hold up, though being a very viable market, is the NHL doesn't want another Eastern Conference team nor do they want an influx of teams it seems. They'll see how Vegas starts out and go from there. Maybe 2019 or 2020 I'm hearing for a 32nd franchise. The NHL wants Seattle, but they'd prefer to see someone relocate there (Phoenix, Carolina, etc.) and then probably award QC an expansion club.

[TNBT]

I hadn't heard any word on the name for the Vegas team, but I have to say, IMO, the Las Vegas Knights or Las Vegas Black Knights sounds pretty badass to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of lineup they put together, although I'm just worrying that we could lose decent player(s) in an expansion draft.


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[GRADEN]

Finalist here is: Silver Knights, Desert Knights, or Golden Knights

Colors are said to have gold in it with black and silver making me think silver "Nevada is the Silver State" is a winner

Look T-Mobile is insane... saw Coldplay there and it is like going to a badarse mother of a mall / nightclub that just so happens to have a hockey game going on... seriously the arena is just amazing it's really unlike other places (doesn't feel like a sports arena, just like u bought a ticket to a cool mall)