Before the Vegas Golden Knights came to town, the closest thing the residents of the entertainment capital of the world had to major league sports (not including minor league) was the UNLV, the University of Las Vegas-Nevada, Rebels. UNLV won the 1990 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Their Division 1 football team shares Allegiant Stadium with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
The Rebels don’t have an NCAA ice hockey team despite minor league hockey’s long presence in the region. Like many colleges they do have a club hockey team in the ACHA D1 and compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey League. The Rebels have new jerseys for the upcoming season and showed them off in style.
UNLV’s jerseys are a copy of the New Jersey Devils third jersey, lovingly called the “Jersey” jersey. The “jersey” logo crest is swapped out with one that reads “rebels”. While the Devils version has no shoulder logo, the Rebels have “UNLV” in white with a red outline on theirs. The numbers on the sleeve are in the same white with red outline font, just like the Devils.
Both New Jersey and UNLV use red and black as their primary color scheme
It’s not uncommon for college hockey club teams to use NHL team jerseys as the base for their own. Going on their website it appears this isn’t the first jersey design they’ve borrowed from Jack Hughes and company. Their online store features a version of their red jersey in the same color design as the New Jersey Devils, but with the white script “Rebels” replacing the interlocking NJ logo.
How did the Rebels show off their new sweaters? By having a casino photoshoot with them. What else would you expect from Vegas? Staying completely on brand their photoshoot earned a retweet from DraftKings casino. The replies are full of people noticing the “resemblance” to New Jersey’s alternate.
According to the team photographer’s Instagram the pictures were taken at Red Rock Casino, a popular luxury casino location off the strip from the main tourist area. The photoshoot featured players, pads, facemask, gloves and all, sitting down for a little game of poker with cards and chips in hand. Was it very clearly staged? Yes, but it was a cool nod to the city they call home.
We’re not saying the new jerseys are good luck, but the Rebels have won their last two games by the combined score of 22-0. Yes you read that right. UNLV plays their home games at City National Arena, practice rink and headquarters of the Golden Knights.