Phillies players keep tabs on hometown Knights from afar
Bryson Stott no doubt would love to be back inside T-Mobile Arena for the Stanley Cup Final, just as he was when the Golden Knights played their first home game as a franchise in 2017.
His pesky job as the starting second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies is getting in the way this time.
But Stott is keeping close tabs on his favorite hockey team from afar.
“I love it,” he said of the Knights’ postseason run during a live appearance on NHL Network from the field Monday at Citizens Bank Park before a game against the Detroit Tigers. “The games are a little late on the East Coast, but I’m staying up for them.”
Stott said he has been watching every game with fellow Las Vegas native Bryce Harper, but not all of their teammates are on board. Nick Castellanos and Trea Turner are South Florida natives and cheering for the Panthers.
“They give us a little smack talk here and there, but nothing too bad,” said Stott, who has cleats with the Las Vegas skyline on the sides and a Knights logo on the heel.
Stott, who played at Desert Oasis and UNLV, is a Las Vegan through and through. He said the excitement he felt when it was announced that his hometown would have major league sports hasn’t dimmed.
It’s part of why he and Harper, who both fell short of a World Series title when the Phillies lost to the Houston Astros last season, are so invested in the Knights.
“Just growing up there we didn’t have our own team, and you kind of just had to pick who to root for,” Stott said. “Once we got our own team, it was ours, and it said Vegas in front of the team name, and it kind of just took off in the city. I remember the first puck drop. I was at the game, and it was electric from Day One. Since then, they’ve done nothing but great things for the city.”
Stott’s favorite player for the Knights was former goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, but he listed Mark Stone, Jonathan Marchessault and Jack Eichel as his current favorites.
“They’ve got a good group of guys,” he said. “It’s hard not to root for all of them.”
The 25-year-old, who said he learned hockey by playing the video game growing up, is a bit of a nervous viewer. He said he saves the emotion for goal celebrations, but is quietly tense for much of the game.
“I don’t scream at the TV,” he said. “I know how hard sports are … when they score that’s when I’m doing the screaming.”
And he’s a true fan. Even his enthusiasm with Adin Hill’s spectacular save in Game 1 was a bit muted because it brought back tough memories of the Braden Holtby robbery of Alex Tuch in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
No friend zone
There are several close friendships between the Knights and Panthers, but those appear to be mostly on hold during the series as tensions have been understandably high.
Florida star Matthew Tkachuk has been friends with Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo for years, and they train together in the offseason.
Tkachuk and Knights forward Mark Stone will be groomsmen in the wedding of Matthew’s brother and Ottawa star Brady Tkachuk this summer, and the families are close.
But none of that matters right now.
“At the end of the day, you throw all the relationships out the door when it comes to this time of year,” Matthew Tkachuk said before Monday’s game.
Extra defenseman
Florida activated defenseman Casey Fitzgerald for Monday’s game, utilizing 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Radko Gudas, who entered the game a bit hobbled, then was sent to the locker room after a big Ivan Barbashev hit in the first period.
Fitzgerald was born in South Florida while his father, Tom, the current general manager of the New Jersey Devils, played for the Panthers and scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1996 to send Florida to its only other Stanley Cup Final.
The Fitzgeralds are also cousins of the Tkachuks.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.