Golden Knights Minority Owner Carol Alt Talks 2023 Stanley Cup Win

Carol Alt.Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images

Carol Alt is an embodiment of pioneering spirit. “I love firsts, I love doing things that nobody else has done or doing things that are new and interesting,” says the six-time SI Swimsuit model. She carried that energy through her whole life from modeling, to acting, to the world of hockey when she became a minority owner of the Golden Knights.

After only six seasons in the NHL, Las Vegas won the 2023 Stanley Cup, and no one is more thrilled than Alt. The expansion franchise first took the ice during the 2017–18 season, and the model-actress has been part of it all since the very beginning. 

“Hockey has come so far. Women are now part of the elite, part of this board management, and I just wanted to be part of that,” Alt shares of joining the franchise.

Alt, who was formerly married to longtime Rangers defenseman Ron Greschner, is a lifelong hockey fan who has always been involved in the sport in some way or another. Now, as a team minority owner, Alt regularly attends owners meetings and can’t wait to proudly wear her Stanley Cup ring.

“For me to witness the Stanley Cup as an owner is something [that] never crossed my mind,” Alt admits. “I never dreamed about it until this possibility came across my desk and I just didn’t hesitate.”

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A post shared by Carol Alt | Model • Actress ⭐️ (@modelcarolalt)

While being a team minority owner means luxury box seats, when it came to attending or even watching games during the finals this year, the 62-year-old entrepreneur and author was quite superstitious.

“My thing is, is when we are winning and we’re doing well, and when we were in the playoffs, I didn’t watch a game,” she explains. “And all my friends knew this, and they would call me after the games to tell me that we won and there was one time nobody called me and I’m like, ‘I can’t give in and ask. I can’t give in and ask,’ because I know if I ask, we’ve lost.”

Alt held strong and didn’t attend or tune in when her team played in the finals earlier this year—but when the Golden Knights beat the Panthers 9–3 to win the Stanley Cup on June 13, she knew right away that Las Vegas won it all.

“I was in Los Angeles and at nine o’clock my phone started ringing off the hook,” she says. “It blew up and that’s how I knew we won the Stanley Cup.”

Not sure how many of you know that I am a minority owner of the Vegas, Golden Knights. We just won the cup!! @vgk ⁦@VegasGldnKnghts⁩ #vgk #stanleycup pic.twitter.com/tCznakeGE2

— Carol Alt (@ModelCarolAlt) June 14, 2023

The New York native is incredibly complimentary of team owner Bill Foley and George McPhee, the team’s president of hockey operations, and says she feels like “such a winner” to be part of such an amazing organization. She credits McPhee with teaching her to be more patient, while she says Foley has helped her to embrace the ability to ask for help when needed.

Alt also cites Marguerite Norris, who was the the NHL’s first female executive and first woman to have her name inscribed on the Stanley Cup, as a prime example of an inspirational woman who came before her. She acknowledges that while she’s not the first woman to get a Stanley Cup ring, it’s an exciting first for her personally. She hopes that her story will encourage others to embrace their own “firsts.”

“This is going to sound really simple and very cliche, but nothing risked, nothing gained,” Alt says. “It really is that simple. If you put it out there and you’re willing to put yourself out there, the opportunity will come. I believe the universe just conspires. I wasn’t looking for something like this, but this has been the thrill of a lifetime. … When people say, ‘Oh, I wish I could do that,’ don’t wish. Just do.”

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