LAS VEGAS — Blown-up pictures of Chicago Blackhawks players skating with the Stanley Cup populate the walls inside Brando's Sportsbar, just off the Las Vegas Strip.
While stars of Chicago's other sports have a spot or two, the clincher that this is first and foremost a hockey bar is best exemplified by a life-size statue of a Native American at the entrance with a Blackhawks logo on the chest.
Brando's manager Sean Donovan is like a lot of people who live in Las Vegas. He comes from someplace else, in his case the Windy City. But Donovan considers himself a local now, and he can hardly believe that, finally, after many flirtations with other pro sports that left fans here at the altar, he has a team to call his own.
"It's unbelievable. It hardly seems real," Donovan said. "I bought season tickets on day one. I think people are going to be shocked at how well this works. The people who actually live here are very loyal, and they are going to take to this team like it's their own kids."
Las Vegas—Las Vegas—became a real hockey town on Wednesday. From a b ...
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Article written by Adrian Dater