Could the Golden Knights’ next generation truly be Vegas born?

In Scott Allegrini’s nearly two decades working with youth hockey in Southern California, he saw a correlation between the area’s two NHL franchises’ success and a rise in youth hockey participation.

He’s seeing the same thing since moving to Las Vegas in 2016.

When the Ducks won the Cup in 2007, Allegrini, the general manager and vice president of Nevada Amatuer Hockey, said Orange County and surrounding areas saw a spike in interest in the sport at the youth level.

“And that’s played itself out now to where there are more rinks down there and it’s kind of what we’re going through (in Las Vegas),” said Allegrini, who also saw growth when the Los Angeles Kings won their two titles.

There’s a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the rise in youth hockey participation in Southern Nevada and the Knights’ arrival. And with the team having just won its first Stanley Cup, others involved with youth hockey believe there will be another spike in participation.

“(Colorado) had another wave of kids wanting to enter the game at the NHL Learn to Play at the entry-level point (after the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022),” said Darren Eliot, the Golden Knights senior vice president of hockey programming and facilities operations.

“We can anticipate that,” Eliot added. “I don’t know how much more interest we can have, but typically that’s what happens.”

According to USA Hockey, there were 2,972 registered hockey players under the age of 19 in Nevada during the 2021-22 season. Allegrini said he believes there will be a double-digit percentage increase next season.

With the growth of participation, the number of opportunities has increased. Eliot said the Knights had more than 1,000 players in their latest spring league. Gina Kielb, the president and program director for the Las Vegas Ice Warriors, said her program has added two teams since last year.

Allegrini and Kenny Brooks will work to lead a hockey program at Bishop Gorman. The school announced in January that it will add a club program, joining Faith Lutheran as the second school in the city with such a program.

Eliot and Allegrini both said they’ve seen a good retention rate of players staying in the program. Allegrini said the rate is around 70 percent for players going from the Learn to Skate entry programs to playing hockey.

The growth of youth hockey in the city has presented some challenges. Kielb said her programs are near capacity.

“Our numbers are consistently growing,” Kielb said. “And we’re getting to a point where we’re at 90 percent capacity. I could maybe take one more team in the fall, but that’s it.”

Allegrini said there is a need for more officials. He said there are great numbers of people who sign up wanting to be officials, but there is a struggle across youth hockey with retaining officials.

Kielb said she’s had struggles finding qualified coaches with playing experience to coach teams in her program. But with a large crop of older players currently in the program, Kielb is hopeful some will remain in the program and coach the next generation of youth hockey players in the city.

“They can come back to the program and be a certified coach,” Kielb said. “They would have had that training because they were with us. I can foresee that not being an issue in the future.”

Knights owner Bill Foley said last year the franchise hopes to build hockey rinks near Henderson Executive Airport. Eliot said with the expected growth there is a need for at least one more facility, similar to City National Arena, to meet demand.

“We know we need to do that,” Eliot said. “That was always part of the plan.”

Kielb said she hopes to see more girls participating and sled hockey teams for players with a physical disability. Allegrini said the continued growth is a positive and hopes to see current youth remain involved in the sport when they’re adults.

Eliot said it’s going to take the help of a lot of people on the education and infrastructure level to keep up with current growth, but he is focused on growing the right way for the best interest of the state.

“What we’re trying to do is build a program and a platform that is sustainable in the long term,” Eliot said.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on Twitter.