While headlines like this should not have to exist in the first place, what happened Tuesday night in Las Vegas was something really special. The Golden Knights, Las Vegas’ new NHL team, held a pre-game ceremony to honor the first responders of last week’s terrible mass shooting at the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

While Las Vegas obviously has the reputation summed up in the quote “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”, people often overlook that many great, caring individuals call the city home. Many of those people walked onto the ice tonight at the T-Mobile Arena to be honored for their courageous and valiant efforts in helping those injured and killed in the recent shooting. While once again such a thing is something that should not have to happen, it is important and unifying to come together in both solidarity for those we lost but to also celebrate those that made the difference in saving the lives of countless others.

**side note, the actual hockey team does not look half bad, either. They are up 4-1 in the second period as I am writing this and are currently 2-0. Marc-Andre Fleury has been a brick wall in between the goal posts and the team appears to have a lot of chemistry for only recently coming together in the expansion draft. Hopefully they are able to build off of their early success and energy from tonight’s ceremony to create something special this year for the people of Las Vegas. Not too special, though, the Blackhawks still need to bring another cup back to Chicago next summer.