Golden Knights get wish with hometown Silver Knights set to play

The Golden Knights’ dream of having a hometown American Hockey League affiliate is about to come true.

The Henderson Silver Knights will play their first game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Orleans Arena against the Ontario Reign. Puck drop will represent the completion of a yearslong quest for the organization that kicked into overdrive last February after it purchased the San Antonio Rampage with the intent of moving the team closer to home.

It also will represent the beginning of another journey. The Silver Knights want to make the same impact on their new league as the Golden Knights did on theirs.

“What they’ve established this last couple years, their culture of always winning and competing for a Stanley Cup, I think that’s the same thing we want to establish here in Henderson,” said forward Patrick Brown, named the team’s first captain Friday. “We want to be an extremely competitive team that’s able to compete for a championship every year.”

The Silver Knights have the talent to be successful immediately.

The Golden Knights’ previous AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, had a successful three-year run during their partnership. The Wolves went 113-71-29 with two division titles and a Western Conference championship. Many of the same players are now in Henderson.

The Silver Knights’ forward group has immense promise with three of the Golden Knights’ top prospects in Peyton Krebs, Lucas Elvenes and Jack Dugan. There’s also veteran talent surrounding them in Brown, Danny O’Regan and Dylan Sikura.

The mix is similar on the blue line, but the team should be young in goal. Goaltenders Logan Thompson and Dylan Ferguson are AHL rookies.

“I like what we have,” coach Manny Viveiros said. “What I’ve seen so far, compared to our first couple exhibition games, we feel good and confident.”

The Silver Knights’ first regular season will be unusual in that, like their NHL counterparts, they will play only division games. Their 40 games are spread unevenly among their six Pacific opponents. They play four games against the Reign, but face the Bakersfield Condors 10 times.

The players are just excited to get on the ice for a game, no matter who it’s against. The AHL season ended last March, so many players have gone 11 months without games.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve played a regular-season game,” said defenseman Jake Bischoff, an assistant captain. “Everyone’s just fired up and excited to get out there.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.