Bettman announces Las Vegas Sphere to host NHL Draft
Bettman announces Las Vegas Sphere to host NHL Draft
Next month's NHL Draft will be held at the iconic Sphere in Las Vegas, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced before the draft lottery.
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1. Bettman announces Las Vegas Sphere to host NHL Draft
Next month's NHL Draft will be held at the iconic Sphere in Las Vegas, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced before the draft lottery, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Bill Bradley.
Next month’s NHL Draft will be held at the iconic Sphere in Las Vegas, league commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday.
The draft will be held June 28-29 at the Sphere, which has 18,600 seats in a 360-degree LED experience. It will be the first live televised event to be held at the venue, which opened with a 40-show residency by U2.
“The 2024 Draft will utilize the Sphere’s cutting-edge technology,” Bettman said. “This will truly be a unique draft unlike any other.”
The venue’s exterior was used extensively during the November’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and Super Bowl LVIII. However, no live shows were hosted inside the $2.3 billion facility.
The Vegas Golden Knights will serve as the event’s host. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday at Ticketmaster.com.
Bettman made the announcement during the NHL Draft Lottery, which was televised on ESPN. He had mentioned last month the league was in negotiations Madison Square Garden Company, which owns the the Sphere.
2. NHL Mock Draft 2024: Where will the stars go?
San Jose had luck on their side in Vegas, winning the rights to Celebrini in the 62nd Annual NHL draft, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Andrew Giesler.
On June 28 and 29, the Sphere in Las Vegas will host the 62nd NHL draft. Revamped in 2016 and then a second time in 2021, it is similar in many ways to the NBA draft. Both leagues share a lottery system where the worse a team finishes, the better the team’s odds are to get a top prospect.
The NHL lottery itself was held on May 7th, where the 16 non-playoff teams had a chance to move up in draft position. The Sharks (19-54-9) finished last in the regular season with a dreadful -150 goal differential.
This meant that they were the favorites to win the draft lottery, and did end up doing so. They will have the right to whichever prospect they think is the best fit, however there is a pretty clear choice on who that should be.
3. Marchessault at the top of McCrimmon’s off-season to-do list
Jonathan Marchessault is coming off a career-best season and will be an unrestricted free agent unless he can reach a contract agreement with the Golden Knights by July 1, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Steve Carp.
For fans of the Vegas Golden Knights, they’re about to find out about the harsh, cruel side of professional sports.
If you thought losing by a goal in Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs was tough to handle, watch what happens in the coming weeks as we approach July 1 and the start of free agency in the NHL. The spotlight will shift from coach Bruce Cassidy and his players to general manager Kelly McCrimmon, president George McPhee and the hockey operations staff.
Be prepared for changes to the roster. Your favorite Golden Knight may no longer be with the team. The reality of the salary cap is about to truly hit home.
McCrimmon said as much Tuesday at City National Arena as the players came back to collect their belongings and head out for the summer, much earlier than they had anticipated and hoped. For some, it could be the last time they visit the facility, some who have been there from the very beginning.
4. LAFC advances in US Open Cup with win at USL’s Las Vegas Lights
LAFC traveled to Las Vegas and left with a 3-1 victory over their former developmental team in the US Open Cup Round of 32, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Will Despart.
At it’s core, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup may well be the purest competition in the American sports landscape.
The tournament is annually contested between over 100 teams from all levels of the United States Soccer pyramid, from the top of the MLS to the NISA. Needless to say, this open format gives way to some rather unorthodox match ups. Many of which require MLS teams to play in cities and towns across the country against lower-tier clubs that would never get a game of such magnitude without the Cup.
On Wednesday night at Las Vegas’ Cashman Field, the magic that is the US Open Cup draw produced one of the more interesting MLS/USL crossover matchups in the tournament’s recent history. LAFC, the defending MLS runners-up, traveled to the corpse of Cashman Field to face their former farm team in a Round of 32 contest. Until the MLS established the NextPro division before last season, the Lights were the developmental club for the rising MLS power based out of South Central Los Angeles.
Despite being nearly 250 miles away from their usual digs at BMO Stadium, the LAFC faithful showed out
5. Angels beat Pirates to win first series in month
The Angels bullpen delivered in a win over Pirates to secure first series win in over a month and start a two-game winning streak, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Michael Huntley.
The Angels won their second consecutive game since the start of the season, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, Wednesday at PNC Park.
The Angels last won two games in a row on April 2-3. They hadn’t won a series since sweeping the Miami Marlins in the second series of the season.
The Angels, who scored nine runs on Tuesday, bailed out starter Jose Soriana by scattering 10 hits. Jo Adell, who went 2 for 4, hit a solo home run and a run-scoring single.
Soriano cruised through the first four innings before giving up four runs in the fifth. He allowed a double to Joey Bart and walked two consecutive Pirates to load the bases beore Oneil Cruz’s double cleared the bases and gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead.
6. Ducks hoping to celebrate Celebrini after NHL draft lottery
Anaheim's 11.5% chance to win top overall pick could mitigate frustration of losing out on Crosby, Bedard, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Danny Evans.
The Anaheim Ducks have a difficult relationship with ping pong balls.
On July 22, 2005, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim entered the draft lottery with two ping pong balls in the hopper and a strong chance to win the right to draft a promising rookie forward named Sidney Crosby. Instead, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the lottery and selected Crosby, who has since led them to Stanley Cup championships in 2009, 2016, and 2017. Anaheim settled for the second pick, which they used to select Bobby Ryan, who still ranks eighth all time in Ducks history with 147 goals.
Last season, the Ducks had the highest possible odds of winning the draft lottery and selecting Connor Bedard, a so-called “generational”, goal-scoring forward in the mold of Crosby. But Anaheim again failed to win the top pick. They finished second again, drafting Leo Carlsson (12-17-29 as a rookie)—a more-than-acceptable consolation prize.
Tuesday night, the 2024 NHL draft lottery will be broadcast on ESPN at 3:30 p.m. PST, and again Anaheim is in position to earn the first overall pick. Officially, the Ducks hold the third-highest odds of winning the lottery, behind only the two teams who finished last season with a record worse than Anaheim’s: the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks.
7. Video of the Day
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8. Ticket Time
Here are the “get in” prices for tickets if you’re thinking about going to a game today:
6:30 p.m. – Royals at Angels – $4
9. On the Air
Here are the game times and television channels for professional teams in the region today:
6:30 p.m. – Royals at Angels – Bally Sports West
10. The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune
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