Elvis is in the building.
Not just one Elvis, but two, three, four, five … twenty!
The Vegas Golden Knights showed up to the Winter Classic against the Seattle Kraken in style. Each member of the team got off the bus at T-Mobile Park in Seattle wearing a bedazzled white flared bodysuit, black wig and gold sunglasses to honor none other than Elvis Presley.
Defenseman Alec Martinez came up with the idea, per ESPN. His teammates Keegan Kolesar and Zach Whitecloud were supportive of the Vegas theme and marveled how he got all the costumes ready.
‘It’s a great question — I am not exactly sure where he got them from,’ Whitecloud said. ‘He got ‘er done!’
The Kraken showed off their own city’s culture proudly. They supported Seattle-based outdoor apparel company Filson and wore orange wading bibs, hunting caps and boots. Each player held a fake fish and some tossed them into the crowd just like fans might see done at Pike Place Market.
“We wanted to do something that showcased the outdoors of Seattle, something fun, something vibrant,” Kraken winger Brandon Tanev told GQ of the look — not to be confused with Nashville Predators fans’ tradition of throwing catfish on the ice. “We decided on doing something with fishing vibes.
‘Pike Place is a staple place for tourists that people to go down to visit. You always see the individuals there out at the market, chucking fish. It’s a famous thing. So we wanted an outfit that represented that, along with being on the water. Fishermen on vessels, that’s what they’re wearing.”
Dressing up with a theme is becoming a Winter Classic tradition. Last year, the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins celebrated Fenway Park by wearing throwback uniforms from their respective MLB teams. The Bruins wore 1935 Boston Red Sox uniforms while the Penguins donned outfits from 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates team.
A season earlier, temperatures were expected to reach historic lows at Target Field in Minnesota. So the St. Louis Blues showed up in beach attire, flip flops and all.