Throughout the last few months, the name associated with the Vegas Golden Knights as the owner has always been Bill Foley. Whenever mentioned, Foley has been referenced as the “majority owner” of the new expansion franchise. That begs the question then, who are the minority owners?
Minority owners of new NHL franchise, Vegas Golden Knights include Rob Gronkowski, Jose Bautista and model Carol Alt.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 23, 2016
According to new reports by ESPN’s Darren Rovell, there are multiple high-profile names who are minority owners of the Golden Knights. Some of the bigger names who reportedly own shares of the NHL’s newest team include New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, free agent and former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, model Carol Alt, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Prince Amukamara and former NHLer Alexei Yashin.
It’s important to note, however, that the claims made by Rovell have been disputed by Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated.
https://twitter.com/alex_prewitt/status/801564341807894528
Another interesting name that was originally granted a small stake in the Golden Knights was veteran forward Mark Recchi. Unfortunately, Recchi wasn’t able to take that stake as he currently serves as a development coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins per Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
According to Recchi, the share was “very, very, very, small” and is believed to have been something along the lines of .01 percent.
Vegas Considering Six to Seven Coaching Candidates
With the Vegas Golden Knights now officially an NHL team with their new name and logo, it’s time for the real business to begin. While everybody is interested in seeing who the 30 other NHL franchises will protect in an expansion draft and who the Golden Knights will select, there’s still one important factor that people don’t seem to be talking about as much – who will the head coach of the Golden Knights be? According to owner Bill Foley, the Las Vegas franchise is considering six to seven candidates for the position.
Golden Knights considering '6 or 7' head coach candidates https://t.co/wrmn2Wkjt3 pic.twitter.com/VEtF6147FK
— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) November 23, 2016
When speaking to Sportsnet’s David Amber, this is what Foley had to say:
George (McPhee) has a list of six or seven primary candidates. A number of them are currently employed. We’ll just see how the season ends and we’ll see who is available or who we have permission to talk to and who is not under contract.
– Bill Foley
The Golden Knights are clearly keeping their options open as they are even considering individuals who are currently under contract with other teams. The life of a head coach in professional sports involves anything but certainty; McPhee knows this and will likely wait until the perfect opportunity to name the first ever head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Sean Couturier to Miss Four to Six Weeks
Bad news struck the Philadelphia Flyers when it was announced that forward Sean Couturier would miss the next four to six weeks with an injury. The team announced the injury timeline through their official Twitter account Wednesday, much to the dismay of Flyers fans.
Per GM Ron Hextall, #Flyers center Sean Couturier will be out 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury.
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 23, 2016
The injury occurred during the Flyers game Tuesday against the Florida Panthers when the 23-year-old left after skating for just seven minutes in the game. Prior to this injury, Couturier had skated in all 20 of the Flyers games this season, recording five goals and eight points in that time. The Flyers currently hold a record of 9-8-3 and sit in sixth in the Metropolitan Division. Losing Couturier won’t help their chances at staying in the playoff race, especially with goaltender Michal Neuvirth also set to miss four to six weeks with a sprained knee as the team announced earlier in November.
Odds & Ends
– Austin Lemieux, the son of Mario Lemieux, has committed to the Arizona State Sun Devils of the NCAA according to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. The 20-year-old Lemieux currently plays for the Islanders Hockey Club in the U.S. Premier League and certainly has a big legacy to follow. Morgan went on to mention that Mario and Alex hicks, the assistant coach of the Sun Devils, played together with the Penguins during the 1996-97 season.
– Michael Cammalleri has returned to the New Jersey Devils after missing the last six games to deal with a personal matter. The personal matter ended up being Cammalleri’s five-year-old daughter dealing with a case of Pneumonia so bad that it required surgery.
“It’s your worst nightmare,” Cammalleri said to NJ.com’s Chris Ryan. “We’re fortunate she’s going to make a full recovery and I appreciate everybody’s support.”
Cammalleri has played in 12 games this season with the Devils and has scored three goals and recorded six points.