One pair of Vegas Golden Knights season ticket holders drive more than 200 miles to attend home games.
Tonopah residents Lorina and Michael Dellinger have made the drive to and from Las Vegas for 30 of the 41 regular-season home games and every home playoff game, including Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday.
Racking up more 12,000 miles — and growing — on their vehicle has been well worth the effort to be part of such a magical season. It’s a nearly four-hour drive each way, meaning they frequently have to spend the night in Las Vegas.
“We wouldn’t change anything about it. It’s just amazing how energizing the games are,” Lorina Dellinger said.
The couple jumped at the chance to secure seasons tickets early on, putting down a deposit before the team had a name, let alone a roster. When the time came, they purchased their two tickets in Section 217, Row A, locking them into a five-year agreement.
They have also alternated taking their three children. For the 11 home games they couldn’t make, they first checked with family and friends for their availability, but ended up selling a few tickets on the secondhand market.
With his family hailing from the Pittsburgh area, Michael Dellinger grew up rooting for the Penguins and was already a huge Marc-Andre Fleury fan. Despite his life-long allegiance to the Penguins, once the season took off it was “Go Knights Go.”
“At first it was maybe we’ll get a chance to see the Penguins play,” she said. “But once the games started, it turned around and it was Vegas all the way.”
The family’s regular-season highlight was seeing the Penguins play at T-Mobile Arena, as her husband got the best of both worlds that night. Vegas took the win 2-1 on a 24-save game by Fleury.
“It was great, but for him, he was torn,” Lorina Dellinger said. “He did support his Vegas Golden Knights, but he does have a Fleury jersey that he wears that’s from Pittsburgh.”
Monday’s Stanley Cup Final game was also memorable.
“(Game 1 was) by far the most exciting,” she said. “The energy in the arena was through the roof.”
With the Knights’ inaugural season winding down and the possibility of a sweep still in play, although this year’s journey is set to end, Lorina Dellinger wouldn’t mind one more loss.
“It’s kind of bittersweet — we hope that it ends in four, but going to home games is always fun,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind it going five, because that would be the ultimate home game.”
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