What Happened in Las Vegas Sports Last Week (Mar 8 – 14)

#5 T Mobile arena approved for 20% occupancy at Golden Knights games

The Las Vegas Golden Knights already made headlines after getting approved for 15%  capacity at games, and it has now been announced that the team can offer up to 20% capacity. Not only will that allow for hundreds of more people to see their favorite hockey team in the flesh, but it also really helps bring back a normal vibe. 

The new guidelines go into effect on March 15th, but fans will need to adhere to new rules when they step into T-Mobile Arena. For example, fans must have masks on when moving around the stadium and are only allowed to take them off when eating or drinking. The new guidelines also ban bags of any kind in the arena, including purses.

#4 Kyle Busch accused of intentionally spinning out during Truck race

Did Kyle Busch intentionally spin out during the Bucked Up 200 Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway? NASCAR is VERY strict about trying to fix a race, and intentionally spinning out in an attempt to bring out a caution flag is just that. However, NASCAR decided against penalizing Kyle Busch this week, which is probably the sport’s way of giving drivers a warning before making any extreme moves. 

#3 Alex Pietrangelo injured

Alex Pietrangelo was injured after blocking a shot in the third period against the San Jose Sharks, and it appears that the defenseman will be out of action for a while. Unfortunately for the Las Vegas Golden Knights, this news comes at a terrible time for the team and could be outright detrimental to their playoff hopes. In fact, between the team going on a bit of a slide in their last few games and one of their top goalies also out for an undermined period of time,  their chances of getting to the Stanley Cup could be in jeopardy.

“Obviously not a great sign that he returned home for evaluation,” DeBoer said after practice Wednesday, according to NHL.com. “I’m not concerned it’s long, long-term, but he’s out for the foreseeable future.”

#2 Marc-Andre Fleury Placed on COVID Reserve List

The Las Vegas Golden Knights announced this week that goalie Marc Andre Fleury has been placed on the NHL’s covid-19 reserve list after getting pulled from Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately for the team, they are also without backup goaltender Robin Lehner, who is on a conditioning loan to the Henderson Silver Knights.  That means they will be forced to use Logan Thompson for the foreseeable future, which could drop the team from the first position in their standings.

In the end, this isn’t good for a team that is only one or two games in front of the other teams in their division. Of course, the Golden Knights still have an air-tight offense. 

#1 Las Vegas Raiders to release Marcus Mariota

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Insider, the Las Vegas Raiders are set to release Marcus Mariota during the 2021 offseason. The news comes amid reports that the Raiders tried to shop the former Heisman winner around in exchange for 2022 draft picks, but teams were supposedly put off by his estimated 11.4 million dollar price tag. They were also most likely put off by incentives in the contract that dictates he is to be paid upwards of 20 million dollars if he rises to a starting role.

Early reports indicate that he will be picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles, who have Jalen Hurts but could probably take a chance on a reliable backup.  Another possible destination is the Washington Football team, who made it to wildcard weekend last season but got blown out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Wherever he goes, however, there will always be a conversation about if he should be a starter or not.