The pain of the October 1 shooting will stick with Nevadans, and victims from around the country, for many years to come.
It’s difficult to find a silver lining in what happened. Senseless. Unexplained. Horrific. People still struggle to even describe, or confront, what happened.
But one thing, from one of the most unexpected places, did help people here, in Nevada, get through it: the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Knights are the first major-league sports team to call Las Vegas home. And in their first season, they went to the Stanley Cup finals.
Maybe more than that, they gave Las Vegas something to cheer about.
From their opening night ceremony, where they honored those who have passed and been injured, the team had a strong connection to its fans that lasted through the season.
“The balance they struck was perfect," said Dan D'uva, radio broadcaster for the team said about the opening ceremony.
D'uva explained that the opening ceremony had to be totally revamped from what was originally planned.
“So much of what happened in the days leading up to October 10 was revamping what had been explicitly detailed plans to launch major league sports in Las Vegas,” he said.
The ceremony had to honor those who were killed, show support for those who had survived and pay tribute to first responders but at the same time launch a major league sports team.
D'uva said by the end of the ceremony fans were cheering and sobbing at the same time and so was he.
“What we do as journalists is try to capture the moment and convey it to our listeners and in that moment, I was trying to find the right words to capture the feeling and I almost burst into tears on the air,” he said.
The moment lasted but the game went on.
“Then they dropped the puck and then the Golden Knights scored four times in 11 minutes and won their very first game at home,” he said.
Even before the ceremony and the puck dropping, the Knights showed up for the city in a way that helped.
“It might be divine intervention. I’ve thought a lot about. How at the right time the players arrived here and what they did for people,” D'uva said.
The players went to hospital rooms to visit survivors and events to honor victims. D'uva said athletes understand what is like to have the support of a community from youth hockey leagues on up so they know how to show support.
“These athletes know what it is like to be supported so they can give it back to others,” he said.
D'uva says fans come to him often with a simple message: Thank You. Even people who have never been to the T-Mobile arena are rabid fans.
“It’s a love affair," he said, "The emotion that is tied to it will be hard to capture in words in the future.”
And although life goes on, D'uva said the Golden Knights - like the Yankees in the 2001 World Series - will be linked not to the tragedy but to the community's healing.
“That will be part of Golden Knights lore for years and decades to come because it will be the time of year. Everyone will remember it was the shooting and then it was the first game.”
Dan D'uva, radio announcer, Vegas Golden Knights
