from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

There are two sides to Las Vegas, and George McPhee – a resident of the city since September and an occasional visitor for decades – is getting to know both.

McPhee is the general manager of the NHL’s newest team, the Vegas Golden Knights, who will begin playing this fall in the T-Mobile Arena, situated at the southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard, a lights-flashing, thunder-rolling block of real estate colloquially known as the Strip.

There are hotels – six of the 10 largest in the world, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. There are casinos – raking in billions of dollars annually as gamblers flock to the place the Rat Pack once called home. The Strip is the most visible manifestation of Las Vegas, what the ads feature when they promise you that “whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

But McPhee is also getting acquainted with the other side – the Las Vegas Valley, which includes Summerlin, where the Golden Knights are building their practice facility, plus Henderson and North Las Vegas. Together, the metropolitan area is home to roughly 2.5 million people.

Developing an appreciation for hockey in that population will ultimately determine whatever success Vegas may have as an NHL expansion franchise.

Franchise owner William Foley promised his novice fan base a championship within eight years, then shortened the time frame to six – a goal that would be practically impossible to meet even if there were a Connor McDavid or an Auston Matthews available in the NHL entry draft, which there isn’t.

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