Vegas Golden Knights hold youth hockey clinic at Idaho Falls park
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IDAHO FALLS — Members from one of hockey’s newest professional teams stopped by Tautphaus Park Monday.
The Vegas Golden Knights are making stops in St. George, Utah; Casper, Wyoming; Billings, Montana and Idaho Falls on their third annual road trip. Idaho Falls was their first stop where they gave a youth hockey clinic.
“It’s awesome. The kids are having fun, the parents are enjoying it. All the families are having a blast. We get to play hockey for a bit and spread the love of the game,” Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud told EastIdahoNews.com.
Idaho Falls Youth Hockey President John Rifelj said around 75 young hockey players attended Monday’s clinic.
“It’s good ‘grow the game’ marketing for us,” Rifelj said. “We target younger kids because they don’t have their favorite sports team yet. So we’re trying to turn them into Knights fans.”
Whitecloud said he enjoys helping teach kids.
“I never had anything like this, where NHL teams came and taught us. So, for me to be able to it for kids … it’s always fun to come out and spread the love of the game and the word about our organization and the culture we bring, Whitecloud said.
Founded in 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights quickly rose in popularity after becoming the first team since the Edmonton Oilers and Hartford Whalers in 1980 to make it to the playoffs in their inaugural season.
The Vegas Golden Knights are headed to Montana on Tuesday with player Jake Bischoff. Players Cody Glass and Nic Hague will stop in Casper, Wyoming and Deryk Engelland will be in St. George, Utah on Friday.
