Rain Nearly Canceled the Gold Carpet, Then Wayne Newton Started Season X

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

The gold carpet is the Golden Knights' yearly kickoff party. It happens on opening day on the plaza outside T-Mobile Arena, and it is free for fans who show up and find a spot along the rail. This year the team set the start time for 4 p.m. and told fans to arrive by 3:30 p.m. to welcome players, coaches, broadcasters and members of the VGK cast, according to News 3 Las Vegas. It was the first gold carpet at the newly named Paramount+ Plaza, the space fans have long known as Toshiba Plaza.

The weather nearly got in the way. A round of storms rolled into the valley Monday night, Sept. 28, and showers lingered into Tuesday. FOX5 Vegas meteorologist Sam Argier described showers and thunderstorms moving through Tuesday before the system moved east and a drier pattern took over. The Review-Journal reported that the rain tested roads and surfaces across the valley, and that it was still coming down at 1:30 p.m., which is when a team spokesperson raised the possibility of canceling.

Then the sun came out. The Review-Journal described mostly blue skies as players and broadcasters worked the rail. Photos from the carpet show players in suits stopping to sign jerseys and pucks for fans lined up along the barricades. The team also planned giveaways, according to News 3: limited Season X items for the first 500 fans at the gold carpet, free tattoos from Revolt Tattoos artists on the plaza, and a chance to win tickets to the game.

Doors opened at 6 p.m. The first 10,000 fans through the gates got a Season X patch, and News 3 reported fans could have it pressed onto a jersey for $10. FOX5 reported the game was sold out and that fans were asked to be in their seats by 7:30 p.m. for the pregame show.

That show is where the nostalgia kicked in. The Review-Journal's Danny Webster wrote that a timeline video of memorable moments opened the package. It then moved into a highlight reel of the team's most famous on-ice graphics. One was the projection of a jet being cut in half during the 2018 Western Conference Final against the Winnipeg Jets. Another was the Kraken rising out of the ice for the first game ever against Seattle. Neon signs with a Golden Knights twist lit up the ice as players skated out one by one for individual introductions.

Last, Wayne Newton stepped up and cranked the siren. With that, Season X was officially underway. The Golden Knights went on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 in front of 17,838 fans. We broke down the game itself, including Trevor Connelly's goal in his NHL debut, in our weekly Golden Knights roundup, so this piece sticks to the party around it.

A Golden Knights player in a blue suit signs a white Golden Knights jersey held over the rail by a fan on the gold carpet before the season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

If you have lived here for a while, you know the Golden Knights are not just a sports team. They were the first major league team in town, and they showed up at a hard moment. People who bought season tickets in 2017 did it before anyone knew if hockey would work in the desert. The team's own entertainment boss said this season was built for those fans.

In an rjmagazine story published by the Review-Journal ahead of the opener, Andrew Abrams, the team's vice president and executive producer of entertainment and production, said the plan was to be "very big on nostalgia." He added, "If you were a day one season ticket member, you'll get the feeling you felt 10 seasons ago." Tuesday's show did exactly that. It skipped the brand-new spectacle and told the story of the first nine years instead.

Picking Wayne Newton to crank the siren fits that plan. The team has handed the siren to hundreds of famous names over the years, and Newton had already done it before, according to the same Review-Journal magazine story. But on a night about roots, few people say "Las Vegas" like he does. Wikipedia's biography notes he first performed in Las Vegas in 1958 at age 17, became a headliner in 1963 and has played more than 30,000 shows on the Strip. His nickname is "Mr. Las Vegas." To a lot of locals, he is as much a part of this town as the Welcome sign.

The gold carpet itself matters for another reason: it is one of the few big Strip events that is truly built for locals. There is no ticket needed to stand on the plaza. Families bring kids in jerseys. Youth hockey players get a close look at the pros they watch on TV. For a lot of Vegas households, opening day is a tradition as fixed as the first cool morning of fall. When rain threatened to cancel it, plenty of fans were refreshing their phones all afternoon.

There is also a simple community angle. Big events at T-Mobile Arena shape traffic, parking and restaurant business along the Strip and in the neighborhoods around it. A sold-out weeknight game on a rainy day is a real test of how the valley moves. It worked out this time, with sunshine arriving right when the crowds did.

Background and History

T-Mobile Arena opened on April 6, 2016, behind New York-New York and Park MGM at 3780 South Las Vegas Boulevard. Wikipedia lists its hockey capacity at about 17,500 seats. A little more than a year later, it became home to the city's first major league team.

The Golden Knights played their first regular season home game on Oct. 10, 2017, against the Arizona Coyotes. It came just nine days after the Oct. 1 shooting on the Strip, and the pregame ceremony honored the victims. That night set the tone for how closely this team and this city would be tied together. It is a big part of why opening night still carries so much weight here.

The moments the team replayed on Tuesday came from that run. In the first season, Vegas beat the Winnipeg Jets in the 2018 Western Conference Final and reached the Stanley Cup Final, where it lost to the Washington Capitals. That series is where the famous "jet cut in half" projection came from. On Oct. 12, 2021, Vegas hosted the brand-new Seattle Kraken in the first regular season game in Kraken history and won 4-3. The pregame show greeted them with a giant Kraken rising out of the ice.

The siren has its own history too. The Review-Journal's magazine story explains that cranking a siren before games is a pro sports tradition that goes back decades, but the Golden Knights turned it into a Las Vegas moment by handing the crank to famous faces. The list of people who have spun it includes performers like Usher, Lil Jon, Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain and the Backstreet Boys, comedian Jo Koy, actor Mark Wahlberg and Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson. The honor has become a way for the team to celebrate the people who make this city what it is. So when the team wanted to close a night about its own past, it went back to a name that has been on Strip marquees since before most of today's fans were born. Many locals likely grew up hearing "Danke Schoen," the 1963 hit that Wikipedia notes later showed up in the 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

In 2023, the Golden Knights won their first Stanley Cup, beating the Florida Panthers in five games. Last season they reached the Final again, their third trip in nine years, and fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. Now, entering year 10, the team has built a reputation for putting on one of the best shows in sports. For a deeper look at the people and the production behind it, read our story on the Golden Knights' pregame show.

What Happens Next

The biggest piece of news for fans is that Tuesday was not the full show. The Review-Journal reported that the true new pregame show comes Friday against Anaheim. Tuesday was the trip down memory lane. Friday is the new chapter.

According to the Golden Knights' official game recap on NHL.com, Vegas hosts the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena. That is a half hour earlier than Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. start, so plan your drive with that in mind. If you want to see the new pregame production, be in your seat before puck drop. The team has kept the details under wraps. In the Review-Journal magazine story, Abrams said the working title of this season's entertainment program was "VGK Classic," which he joked was funny "because it's only 10 seasons."

The weather should not be an issue this time. FOX5 Vegas forecast clear skies and dry conditions from Wednesday through the following week, with highs in the low to mid 90s, about 5 to 10 degrees above normal. That is good news for anyone walking from a parking garage or tailgating with friends on the plaza.

The team also has history on its side heading into the season. Its opening night win moved Vegas to 7-0-1 all time in season openers, which NHL.com called "the longest active point streak in NHL history." If you follow the team on the radio, FOX5 reported English broadcasts air on 107.9 KVGS FM, with Spanish broadcasts on 105.7 KOAS FM.

A Golden Knights player with blond hair in a black and pink jacket shakes hands with fans along the barricade next to the gold decorations at Paramount+ Plaza

Ryan's Take

I love this story because it is about more than hockey. Ten years ago, nobody knew if a hockey team would stick in Las Vegas. Now opening day has its own traditions, its own crowd of regulars and its own weather drama. That kind of shared routine is a sign of a city that has grown up. When I work with buyers who are moving here from out of state, I hear the same question a lot: "Is there a real community in Las Vegas, or is it just the Strip?" A crowd of locals waiting out an afternoon of rain for a chance at an autograph is a pretty good answer.

From a housing view, the arena is a real amenity. Many of the families I work with in the southwest valley and Summerlin build their fall calendar around home games, youth hockey and the Silver Knights in Henderson. Being a reasonable drive from T-Mobile Arena is part of what they like about living here. It will not set the price of your home, but it is part of why people choose Las Vegas and why they stay. Season X is a good reminder that the things we do together are a big part of what makes a place feel like home.

What You Can Do

If you are heading to Friday's game against Anaheim, give yourself extra time. Puck drop is 7 p.m., and the new pregame show will start before that. Traffic near the Strip on a Friday night is heavy on a good day. Consider parking a little farther out and walking, or use a rideshare drop-off away from the busiest blocks.

If you missed the gold carpet this year, put it on next year's calendar now. It happens on opening day, it is free to attend and it is one of the easiest ways to get your kids close to the players. Watch the team's official channels in September for the time and location. Bring a Sharpie, a jersey or a puck, sunscreen and, as this year proved, maybe an umbrella just in case.

If your family is new to Las Vegas, hockey is a great way to plug into the community. Youth programs, house leagues and local rinks around the valley are full of families who started the same way, by catching a game and getting hooked. And if you are thinking about a move within the valley and want to know which neighborhoods make game nights easy, I am always happy to talk it through.

A smiling Golden Knights player in a light gray suit signs a puck for a fan on the gold carpet before the Golden Knights' 10th season opener

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | 702-747-5921 | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com