Practice makes perfect setting for fans to bond with Knights

Allen Iverson, who once delivered an iconic rant about missing practice without a note from his doctor when he was with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, can relate to what has been going on with the Golden Knights.

We talkin’ about practice.

That’s all the Knights have been doing since they banished the Los Angeles Kings to the No. 1 tee box with a four-game sweep of a playoff series that concluded April 17.

The Knights and San Jose Sharks, who also swept the not-so-mighty Ducks of Anaheim onto the golf course, must wait until the other first-round series conclude before playing another hockey game under the aegis of Lord Stanley of Preston and Gary, Duke of Bettman.

Could be Wednesday.

Could be Thursday.

Could be when H-E-double hockey sticks freezes over, at this rate.

And so the Knights continue to practice. And continue to take days off from it, because a team can only practice so much at this time of the year lest it start to seem like training camp again.

Practice rink and daycare

With 700 spectators watching from packed bleachers at City National Arena, and little children pressing little noses to Plexiglas, tedium is less noticeable.

A Google search turned up a handful of NHL teams that open practice to the public — Hurricanes, Blackhawks, Islanders, Capitals, Stars, Predators, Blues, Rangers. A photo of MB Ice Arena, the Chicago practice rink, showed no more than two dozen spectators in attendance.

At City National, that many show up to fill out applications to drive the Zamboni.

The practice arena has become a place to rendezvous for Knights fans, and a daycare center for their young ’uns. It’s a chance to see the players up close, personal and without their partial dental plates. It will continue to be the only place to see them for a few more days, although the team took another break on Sunday.

Nate Schmidt, the Knights’ defenseman with the sunny disposition, was asked if spectators turned out to watch practice when he skated for the Capitals.

“Yes, but nothing to this extent,” Schmidt said with a smile wider than Marc-Andre Fleury’s goal crease. “It’s pretty incredible what we get every day at practice.

“Having the fans getting excited to see us every day — and we’re excited to see them. I really do believe it gets our practice moving in a certain direction. Guys wanna make sure they put a good foot forward and they are ready to go, especially when Flower (Fleury) gets those cheers every day when he comes onto the rink.”

Pittsburgh redux

Fleury said it reminded him of Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh has had pro hockey since Les Binkley tended goal without a mask in the 1960s. While Pittsburgh has celebrated five Stanley Cup championships, Las Vegas hosted an outdoor preseason game in a casino parking lot.

“Maybe this was not something I expected for the first season,” said the team’s goaltender extraordinaire. “But right from the beginning, we’ve had great crowds. We do notice for sure. They get a few chants going, cheer for some saves and some goals. It makes the atmosphere in practice really good.”

Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland said when he played for Calgary, the Flames often would open practice and fans would show up to watch. But in a big barn such as the Saddledome, the players didn’t see or feel the spectators as they do at intimate City National.

“It probably reminds you of Pittsburgh,” said the Knights’ alternate captain, who played for the Penguins for four seasons before signing with the Flames. “Once in a while you’d practice there, and it would be full. But this is every single day.”

One of the hockey bloggers asked Knights coach Gerard Gallant if he’d consider closing practice with the importance of playoff games becoming so magnified.

Gallant said have another doughnut, or something to that effect. He said fans chanting “Go Knights Go!” is not a distraction, and that the little ones will be welcome to press their noses against the Plexiglas for as long as the team’s run continues.

Provided it ever does.

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Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.