(Photo Credit: bloggar.aftonbladet.se)
If there’s one thing the city of Denver loves to talk about, it’s altitude. The “Mile High City” is not an exaggeration, it literally sits more than 5,000 feet above sea level, by far the highest elevation of any city in the NHL.
The sign from the picture above is posted in an area where visiting players will see it as they prepare for games against the Avalanche. The team heavily leans into the concept having named their team store and broadcast networks after the term “altitude.” And though they don’t go as far as the Denver Broncos’ “Altitude Sickness Is Real” sign outside the visitors locker room at Empower Field, Colorado is proud and bordering on obnoxious about the number 5,280.
The Golden Knights are unfazed.
It’s overrated. We’re certainly aware of it, right? You have to be. But I think if you spend too much time talking about it, fixing this, going here, going there, oxygen here, I think it manifests itself into something bigger than it should be. -John Tortorella
Few teams are as uniquely prepared as the Golden Knights to deal with the altitude issues that Denver presents.
T-Mobile Arena, which sits on the Las Vegas Strip, at the base of the valley, is more than 2,000 feet above sea level. City National Arena, where the Golden Knights practice is located in Summerlin, about 15 miles west of the Strip, and it’s at nearly 3,500 feet of elevation. Finally, the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, where VGK played their first round series against the Utah Mammoth, is more than 4,000 feet above sea level.
We might have to catch a couple of breaths here and there along the way, but we’re going to play. That’s all we’re worried about. -Tortorella
There’s plenty for the Golden Knights to worry about in this Western Conference Final series against the Presidents’ Trophy winning Avalanche.
Altitude is not on the list.
