Vegas has developed a reputation for housing the most hated team in hockey. As PWHL Las Vegas joins the community, they want to be a team built on "integrity, communication, trust, and kindness," and could be exactly what Vegas' hockey market needs.
Las Vegas has certainly joined the realm of hockey cities welcoming the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, and now PWHL Las Vegas.
In the NHL, Vegas has become a perennial contender claiming their first Stanley Cup in 2023. They've pushed the NHL's rules to the brink, whether it's the salary cap or the long-term injured reserve system. They continued to win, drawing ire from fan bases across the league. And they've never shied from controversial players.
This season, the Golden Knights signed Carter Hart, a key figure in the sexual assault allegations made about Hockey Canada's 2018 World Junior team. He and the others were acquitted in court, but morally and ethically, their actions and the treatment of women was put on full display for the world to see and judge. It was why the Golden Knights were heavily criticized by fans and advocates for signing Hart, and ushering him back to the league.
The Golden Knights have done themselves no favours this season prohibiting Bruce Cassidy from speaking to other teams after they fired him, only to have his replacement, John Tortorella, cost the franchise a second round draft pick and himself $100,000 for repeatedly violating media rules. Earlier in the season the Golden Knights even revoked Mark Lazerus of The Athletic's credentials for asking Noah Hanifin about Hart's possible signing. The Golden Knights seem to have more controversial headlines than other teams, and it's resulted in Vegas' identity as the most "hated" team in the league.
A recent story on the NHL's own website described the Golden Knights as "Ruthless. Villains. The Bad Boys of the NHL."
It's a reputation that was building for years, not only for their use of LTIR and salary cap management, but also from events like the messy parting with beloved Marc-Andre Fleury. In 2020 Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh, posted a photo to social media of Fleury being stabbed in the back. Then after winning the Vezina, he was traded for a minor leaguer to make cap space. The sentiment was describd by former inaugural sason Golden Knights member Jonathan Marchessault in 2024 when he said "there’s definitely no loyalty" in the organization toward players.
Away from the ice, there was the 2017 incident when the Golden Knights used women to mock their opponents in a sexist social media post.
"By no means were the tweets intended to disparage females or female hockey players in any way," the Golden Knights told media. "We do not condone sexism in any form and fully support the inclusive culture of hockey that makes our sport great. We accept full responsibility for our actions and apologize to those who were offended."
The Golden Knights know they have the reputation, but they "ignore it, as they don't think they need to apologize for how they operate the franchise, one which has continued to win.
"I think we largely ignore it, to be honest,” Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon said of being the "villains" of the NHL. “It is what it is, and we’re not going to be able to change people’s minds. I don’t think we’re going to spend a lot of time trying to or caring about it."
Only days later, PWHL Las Vegas saw general manager Dominique DiDia set a course for their debut in the market, and the identity she wanted for her team. And while she wants a Walter Cup, DiDia spoke primarily of creating a culture of trust, integrity, and kindness.
While PWHL Las Vegas will be sharing T-Mobile Arena with the Golden Knights, the organization has an opportunity to do things differently, and shift the perspective on Las Vegas hockey.
New GM Dominique DiDia Speaks Of Culture
At her first official media availability as general manager of PWHL Las Vegas, Dominique DiDia was asked explicitly if she'd be copying or mimicking anything from the Golden Knights' style, which was described as being a cutthroat, win-at-all-cost team.
Winning was where DiDia found similarity, and while she didn't speak on the Golden Knights in her response, she did speak explicitly about the importance of integrity, trust, and kindness within her organization.
"I'm passionate about building a PWHL franchise where we compete for a Walter Cup from the first game, from the first moment we start," said DiDia. "I want to have players on our team that want to win and want to compete, but more importantly for me, our team is about character, and working with good people that care about each other, and align with our core values."
"As the PWHL Las Vegas team, we have mission statement and core values that include integrity, communication, trust, and kindness, and there is a real joy that we want to have while playing women's hockey and playing in the PWHL. So our goal is to win, be a winning franchise, but also play hockey the right way, with integrity, and care for each other as teammates."
PWHL Las Vegas will soon announce their inaugural head coach, and will then begin the expansion player dispersal process in early June, followed by the PWHL Draft on June 17, and open free agency following the draft.