Proud Affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights
Many hockey fans in the Vegas Valley have September 29th circled on their calendars, when the Golden Knights open the 2026-27 season against the Chicago Blackhawks. Silver Knights fans may be honing in on October 3rd and the home opener against the Bakersfield Condors.
But for Golden Knights prospects and coaches, and the Silver Knights staff, the season really starts on Saturday at the Rookie Faceoff in San Jose.
The Golden Knights will send 23 prospects to the weekend exhibitions, ten of whom saw game action with the Silver Knights in 2025-26. And the squad will be led by Silver Knights Head Coach Joel Ward and his staff, Ward’s first duties as bench boss since being hired to run the HSK in late June.
“I’m getting ready to call out some names on the bench,” said Ward, who spent the final three seasons of his playing career in San Jose. “I’m excited, and it’s been a long time coming. It’s been a few months sitting at home, and everyone is always asking about it. But I’m prepared and ready to go, and I’m excited for the opportunity and looking to have some fun.”
In many ways the weekend should feel like business as usual for Ward. He has attended this tournament in the spectator gallery as an assistant coach with the Golden Knights, on the bench as an assistant coach with the Silver Knights, and he is working on a new staff with support from men he has worked with before, such as General Manager Tim Speltz, Assistant Coach Jamie Heward, and Goaltending Coach Fred Brathwaite.
“That makes the transition a bit better for myself, guys I had good relationships with in the past,” said Ward. “Hewie and I did live together at one point, so we got to know each other pretty good.”
With two games on the weekend, facing the Utah Mammoth prospects on Saturday afternoon and the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, the real opportunity for Ward and his staff this weekend is to spend time with some of the players that Ward may be less familiar with but figure to play significant roles at Lee’s Family Forum this season.
Trevor Connelly, Ben Hemmerling, Jackson Hallum, and Viliam Kmec are among the names on the weekend roster that played big minutes in Henderson last season.
Connelly was better than a point-per-game in his rookie campaign last season and won Rookie of the Month honors in March, despite missing significant time to injury in December and January. Hemmerling, who quipped that he was the ‘old guy’ at this year’s tournament, posted 50 points and was Rookie of the Month in February last season.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Golden Knights have also brought five members of the 2026 Draft class.
“It’s such a great opportunity whether you’ve been here last year, whether you’re signed or undrafted, just to get out here and compete in games is the best way,” said Ward. “I’ve sat down with a few guys and had some good conversations with them. Some I knew already from the past, but you want to get to know them a little bit deeper and spend some more quality time with them. I think that’s what it’s about, building relationships, and this is a good way of doing it starting off here.”
The X’s and O’s will not be paramount this weekend, but the effort will be. The Golden Knights have had a strong record in the tournament over the years, largely because of the attitude with which they approach it. The expectation will be for these players, especially with a shorter training camp window than in prior years, to work and learn to springboard themselves into training camp in Vegas next week.
“It’s those compete juices. It’s always fun to play games, and I’m excited to see that the guys are ready to compete and see what they’re about,” said Ward. “It’s not easy to just show up and play with a bunch of guys you don’t know that well. To gain that chemistry will be pretty quick and pretty hard to do, but I’m just excited to see these guys in action. We’ll give them information as best we can and see them go out and execute.”