Having a locker stall inside an NHL dressing room with your name on it is a privilege that few experience. It’s one sign a player has reached the sport’s pinnacle, and seeing their name above a stall is a moment many players never forget.
All of that being said, some stalls are better than others.
Golden Knights defensemen Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo sit next to each other in City National Arena’s dressing room, often seen playfully bickering like an old married couple.
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“He’s just everywhere!” Theodore exclaimed, holding up a balled up piece of tape from his stall that had fallen off Pietrangelo’s shelf.
“There’s stuff everywhere, all the time,” Theodore repeated, laughing as he pointed to Pietrangelo’s overflowing equipment. “Look! His cup is just sitting there.”
Pietrangelo smiled and brushed more items toward Theodore’s stall. “Do you ever have clutter at your house? Well, basically my clutter ends up in Theo’s house.”
In truth, Theodore enjoys his place in the dressing room. There was a time he was the only defenseman who wasn’t sitting on the “D-man wall,” as the players like to call it. Vegas’ room has three walls of stalls, with the fourth covered in medieval brick decorations and flat-screen televisions that are almost always tuned to football or golf.
The south wall – opposite of the televisions – seats seven defensemen, bookended by two goalies, while the forwards are split across the other two walls.
Theodore (No. 27) was initially sitting where Jake Bischoff (45) sits now, on the corner apart from the other defensemen. A couple years ago he moved, now smack dab in the middle of the wall of defensemen. His favorite part of his current real estate is the neighbor to his right – Brayden McNabb (3).
“Nabber is great to sit beside because he always has sock tape,” Theodore explained. “I always tell myself to get some, but it’s way over there (points across the room) and I always forget. I get to the point where I need it, and he always has some.”
Pietrangelo (7) loves his placement in the room because of his direct view of the televisions. The players have no say in their stall location, and they aren’t really sure how they’re assigned.
“I could probably move if I wanted to, but I like it,” Pietrangelo said.
“I think other people might want to move,” Theodore joked in the distance.
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The seating arrangement for the dressing room inside T-Mobile Arena is similar but not exactly the same. And while that room may be flashier, the players spend far more time inside the one at the practice facility. The practice room is essentially a second home to the players, and each of the three walls has a very distinct vibe.
The corner where Pietrangelo, Ben Hutton (17) and goalie Logan Brossoit (39) sit isn’t just part of the wall of defensemen, but it’s also one of the loudest areas of the room, competing with Jonathan Marchessault’s stall (81).
“We might lead the way (in noise),” Pietrangelo said. “Me and Marchy kind of even it out.”
Reilly Smith (19) sits on the far side of the south wall, next to an exit leading to the upstairs gym.
“I get to sit beside my main man 81,” Smith replied when asked what the best part of his stall location is. “I like being on the corners. (My old stall) was the fastest to get to the ice, this one is the fastest to get to the gym. Plus I have a lot of space.”
In the first two seasons in Vegas, Smith sat in the stall now occupied by Paul Cotter (43), closest to the ice, but during the pause in 2020 due to the pandemic many players’ stalls were rearranged. Another player who moved sides of the room at that time was William Karlsson (71).
“I was where (Chandler) Stephenson sits, then during COVID I got moved here for some reason and I just stayed here,” Karlsson said. “My first neighbor was (Vadim) Shipachyov. He didn’t say a lot.”
Karlsson’s new locker neighbor is a bit more talkative, and when asked the best part of his new spot he quickly replied, “I got Phil Kessel next to me.”
“Good vibes,” Karlsson said, describing sitting next to Kessel (8). “He’s relaxed. He’s pretty funny. He’s easy going. All-around good dude.”
On the other side of Kessel sits Jack Eichel (9), followed by captain Mark Stone (61).
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“Obviously I get to sit next to Stoney,” Eichel replied when asked what he likes best about his stall location. “That was really nice last year when I came in, with him being captain.
“But obviously we just picked up this guy,” Eichel said, pointing to Kessel. “He’s quite entertaining to sit next to. This has been a real treat, and I’m pretty happy that I get him every day. I can just sit here and listen. I don’t even have to say a word. Usually he has me and Stoney laughing pretty good. He’s got a lot of stories, and his delivery is good. He’s entertaining, that’s for sure.”
To Stone’s left is the unquestioned life of the party inside the Golden Knights dressing room: Marchessault.
Coach Bruce Cassidy likes ending practices with competitive drills, often pitting half of the players against the other and keeping score. As Marchessault walks off the ice and saunters into the room, he’s usually still trash talking teammates or vehemently arguing the semantics of which team won the drill as he sheds his gear.
It’s not just Marchessault, though. The eight forwards on the south wall of the room have combined to score 1,195 goals in the NHL. Compare that to the seven on the north wall, who have 183 NHL goals, and it’s easy to see why they’re more experienced, comfortable in their skin and loud.
Stephenson is the elder statesman of the quiet side of the room, and likes it.
“I’m away from Marchy,” he said with a laugh. “Away from all the noise.”
Stephenson (20) also likes sitting between Brett Howden (21) and Keegan Kolesar (55) because they’re low-maintenance players. They don’t have much equipment, and therefore don’t take up much space.
“You see guys take up two stalls with tape and sticks and gear and everything,” Stephenson said. “Marchy takes up a lot of space. Petro takes up a lot of space. Goalies, just because they have all the gear. Howden might be the lowest-maintenance guy, just as far as gear goes. (He has) one set of skates, one set of gloves.”
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As the Golden Knights continue to trim their camp roster toward the 23-man regular season maximum, there are a few players who are thrilled with their locker assignments, not because of their neighbors but the mere fact that they’re in the main room.
When camp opens with more than 60 players, they obviously don’t all fit into the dressing room. To accommodate, Vegas utilizes the dressing room usually occupied by the UNLV hockey team. It’s obviously much smaller and not as lavish as the main room, and it’s where most rookies dress.
“The big room has been nice,” said Jake Leschyshyn (15), who is in the main room for the first camp of his career. “You don’t have to dress outside of the rink. You’re in an actual room, so that’s nice. You feel more a part of the team.”
Forward Sakari Manninen was initially in the Golden Knights’ room, but was part of the roster cut on Saturday and has since joined the Silver Knights in Henderson for the AHL camp. Leschyshyn, Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg are all fighting for spots on the NHL lineup, and their dressing room stalls are essentially a physical representation of their hope for that.
“This is my first camp that I started in here, so it’s nice,” Leschyshyn said. “It feels like you’ve worked your way up a bit.”
The newest addition to the room was Bischoff, who began camp in the rookie dressing room but has since made his way over after surviving two rounds of roster cuts.
“Yeah, still being around this late in camp is good,” he said. “The team’s starting to form, and I’m just trying to stick around every day I can. Still being here is awesome, so I’m going to enjoy it while I can for sure.”
(Top photo of William Karlsson and Paul Cotter: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)
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