Local hockey fans must make do with NHL exhibition

Steve Addy

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

Who: Avalanche vs. Kings

When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday

Where: MGM Grand

Tickets: $20-$60 at the box office or by calling 474-4000

There will be no main course for pro hockey fans in Las Vegas this season. They'll have to be satisfied with an appetizer Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

When the Colorado Avalanche and LA Kings play their NHL preseason finale at 7:30 at the Grand Garden Arena, it will herald Las Vegas' second straight season without a pro hockey team.

The city's International Hockey League franchise, the Thunder, remains in mothballs and won't be able to resume operations until it can find a home arena, part-owner Ken Stickney said Thursday. The team spent six seasons at the Thomas & Mack Center (1993-99) before losing its lease.

"The difficult thing has been finding a suitable venue that really wants to host a hockey team," Stickney said. "Until there's a venue with the capability and the willingness, we won't have pro hockey. That's a shame, because we'd love to have a team again.

"We've owned the baseball team (the Stars) for 10 years, but all I remember is hockey -- like coming back from three goals down to win on opening night, or beating Chicago in overtime. We still talk about those games around the office. When the puck drops to start this season, it will make me a little sad."

Despite Stickney's enthusiasm, he isn't optimistic about bringing back the Thunder. Periodic talks with the Thomas & Mack Center, MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay Events Center have yielded little hope.

The Mack no longer has ice-making capability, while MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay aren't willing to commit 50 dates a year for a hockey team, especially prime weekend dates normally reserved for concerts and boxing cards. MGM Grand reiterated that stance Thursday.

"At this time, MGM Grand has decided not to pursue a partnership with an IHL team in the Grand Garden Arena, based on the (events) we have lined up for 2000 and beyond," a spokesman said.

Stickney said he mostly understands why MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay want to keep dates open for big events.

"Both buildings have the physical capability to support a team, but blocking out 50 dates isn't really consistent with their business standpoints," he said. "We want hockey and they want Ricky Martin.

"Of the three buildings, the Mack is more apt to want to do it. If they had ice, I think we could make it work. The Mack took a lot of the heat (for the Thunder suspending operations), but it wasn't just our lease. We didn't do everything right ourselves. We made mistakes."

Thomas & Mack director Pat Christenson said the arena is out of the hockey business for the foreseeable future. Re-installing ice equipment would not only require rebuilding the entire arena floor, it would leave the Mack unavailable for at least two months.

"That's a lot of business we would lose," Christenson said.

The addition of the Cox Pavilion adjacent to the Mack could potentially make more dates available, but that could require two years to determine.

"We would have to go through a whole year with the Pavilion to see how it impacts our programs -- basketball and the Olympic sports," Christenson said. "With all of the games and practices and events, could we still find room for hockey? That's hard to determine without going through a season."

Stickney said the IHL remains the most viable option for the Thunder and wouldn't be interested in joining either of the smaller western leagues.

The IHL still considers Las Vegas a prime market, and would love to have a team here as a rival for its Utah and Houston franchises.

"Las Vegas is something we are still pursuing," league spokesman Sean Krabach said. "We have room for expansion in the West, but there hasn't been any progress. It's a matter of finding the right deal at the right time."

Stickney shares that view.

"Mandalay Bay could call me tomorrow and say their arena is dark 250 nights a year, and let's work something out," he said. "Every day, we hope to get that call."