Vegas Golden Knights center Nicholas Roy (10) celebrates with Nick Holden (22) and Zach Whitecloud (2) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Friday, Feb. 28, 2020.
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Nick Cousins posted a picture on Twitter on Wednesday of a team movie night. Nick Holden said he’s taken the lead on organizing team activities. Peter DeBoer said they had a poker tournament the other night.
The Golden Knights are like every team in the bubble, stuck in their hotel with nothing to do when they’re not practicing or playing. So team veterans — Holden, Nate Schmidt, Ryan Reaves and Jonathan Marchessault — have created a “Fun Committee” to keep the team entertained.
Naturally, when this information was revealed in the Friday player availability over Zoom, questions devolved to what movie they watched and who won the poker tournament instead discussing Game 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks at 5 p.m. on NBC.
There’s plenty of time to talk about hockey. Let’s talk about the Fun Committee.
“They’ve been coordinating different things for the boys to kind of get together and have a feeling of getting away from the bubble even though we’re still in the bubble,” Whitecloud said. “It kind of shifts our mindset away from the hockey and everything and coming together as a team and relaxing and having fun.”
Whitecloud said movie night was a showing of “Semi-Pro,” the 2008 Will Ferrell comedy that the 24-year-old Whitecloud called a “classic, old movie.” The poker tournament the other night was won by Deryk Engelland, although Nicolas Roy cautioned that Marchessault and Reaves are card sharks in their own right.
“Who’s the worst? It’s tough to say,” Roy said. “I’m pretty new at the table. I need some experience there.”
It’s unclear if it’s an official Fun Committee-sanctioned event, but Cousins’ photo of movie night showed some Nintendo 64 systems in the corner of the room, and multiple players said they brought their Xbox to the bubble. Even Marc-Andre Fleury said he needed to dust off his Xbox to keep up with the younger players.
The trip to Edmonton and the stay at the JW Marriott downtown is much more than an extended road trip. When the team is on the road they have the chance for team dinners or golf games or group get-togethers.
That won’t happen in the world of coronavirus, but it does give the Fun Committee ample time to plan. The Golden Knights have been in the bubble for three weeks as of Sunday, and if they are able to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, they’ll be there another seven.
“The differences are there, but since we’re here for an extended period of time, we have certain resources that we know will be there, so that Fun Committee does have a chance to plan and let guys know ahead of time just so you can get your rest, things like that so you’re ready to go out as a team,” Whitecloud said.
So what’s on the Fun Committee’s agenda for the weekend? Games on Saturday and Sunday limit the time away from the ice.
But if the Golden Knights were to finish off a sweep this weekend, they’ll have plenty of time waiting for their second-round opponent. To paraphrase another Will Ferrell film that might make it into the movie night rotation, that would leave so much more room for activities.
Series: Golden Knights lead 2-0
TV: NBC Channel 3
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-205, Blackhawks plus-185; over/under: 6 (minus-120, EVEN)
Golden Knights (5-0, Western Conference No. 1 seed)
Previous round: Defeated Dallas, St. Louis and Colorado in round-robin
Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)
Points leaders: Reilly Smith (7)
Goals leaders: Reilly Smith, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore, Alex Tuch (3)
Assists leaders: Nick Cousins, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith (4)
Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (2.39 GAA, .907 save percentage)
Blackhawks (3-3, Western Conference No. 12 seed)
Previous round: Defeated Edmonton 3-1 in qualifying round
Coach: Jeremy Colliton (second season)
Points leaders: Jonathan Toews (8)
Goals leader: Dominik Kubalik, Jonathan Toews (4)
Assists leaders: Patrick Kane (6)
Expected goalie: Corey Crawford (3.76 GAA, .890 save percentage)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Chandler Stephenson—William Karlsson—Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault—Paul Stastny—Reilly Smith
Nick Cousins—Nicolas Roy—Alex Tuch
William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt
Alec Martinez—Shea Theodore
Nick Holden—Zach Whitecloud
Goalies
Robin Lehner, Marc-André Fleury
