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Knights in the Morning: Keegan Kolesar's pre-game rituals, how football led him to hockey

Nicknamed 'Nickels,' Kolesar shared his pre-game routine and his hockey backstory with Channel 13
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LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — If you've watched Good Morning Las Vegas on a Wednesday lately, you may have noticed we have a new segment.

"Knights in the Morning," airing every Wednesday morning on Good Morning Las Vegs, lets fans get to know the Vegas Golden Knights in ways they couldn't by watching games.

In this week's edition of the hockey Q&A, Nick Walters sits down with VGK winger Keegan Kolesar to hear about his pre-game routines and why "Nickels" got into hockey.

WATCH: How did Kolesar get the Nickles nickname?

Knights in the Morning: Get to know 'Nickels' Keegan Kolesar

Kolesar, who has already scored six goals this season — two shy of a career-high for a single season — listens to Alexa on Fire on the way to the rink on game days.

"When I get to the rink, I'm in hot tubs and cold tubs for a bit," Kolesar said. "I always get dressed right side first, then the left. So I put my right skate on first and then the left. Just something I've always instinctively done in my life."

The Manitoba native tells us his parents wanted him to play football when he was growing up but he was called to hockey.

"My parents were like, 'We need you to stay in shape for football in the summer so we'll put you in hockey,'" Kolesar said. "Then I think two years later I quit football because I was like, 'I'm done playing it.'"

The rest was history, selected by the Golden Knights with the 69th overall NHL Draft pick in 2019.