Stormy Buonantony eager to start 2nd season with Golden Knights

It’s difficult to tell now, since Stormy Buonantony exudes confidence and charisma in her role as the Golden Knights’ rinkside reporter.

But before the start of her first season with the club, the Las Vegas native was anxious about how she would be received by the fan base.

“Obviously some people who were very beloved in this city didn’t stay on staff,” Buonantony said. “Before I ever even had a game under my belt, I felt like people didn’t like me. That was kind of a hard mental battle for a little while to overcome.”

It turns out she had nothing to worry about.

Buonantony, 28, found her niche on the Knights’ TV broadcasts in large part to her carefree, on-air personality.

She enters her second season resolute and determined to build on the connection she’s made with viewers.

“It’s been really, really cool just to grow with the audience and grow in my skill and feel more confident in what I’m doing every day, and knowing that people in the community believe in me a lot more now,” Buonantony said. “It took me the year to earn that, I feel like.”

Buonantony (pronounced BON-an-tony) was given her unique first name from her mom after being born during a July rainstorm. She attended Palo Verde High, then started in journalism with the Mountain West after graduating from San Diego State.

Along with serving as the reporter and in-stadium host for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, Buonantony also covered college football and basketball for ESPN/SEC Network and Raycom Sports.

The Knights hired Buonantony in August 2019 after Alyson Lozoff’s contract was not renewed. Lozoff is now the rinkside reporter for the Anaheim Ducks.

Buonantony quickly developed a rapport with the Knights players and coaches in her pregame or between-periods interviews. During the postseason, she broadcast from MacKenzie River Pizza at City National Arena and joked she was a “kitchen-side reporter.”

Throughout the season, Buonantony continually picked the brains of broadcast partners Dave Goucher (play by play) and Shane Hnidy (analyst) and others to improve her knowledge of hockey.

“The more that I got comfortable with the information, the more I started to become myself,” Buonantony said. “The way I watch a hockey game now is completely different than the way I watched a hockey game as a fan.”

Buonantony admits she gets bored easily when she’s not working and took advantage of the unusual downtime in the hockey schedule this fall.

After the Knights were eliminated from the Western Conference Final in September, she received permission from the organization to cover college football for ESPN and ABC.

Buonantony was on the sidelines for Friday’s Arizona-Arizona State rivalry and covered the Brigham Young-San Diego State matchup Saturday.

She was the sideline reporter for Washington’s comeback victory over Utah on Nov. 28, which aired nationally on ABC during prime time. The previous week, she covered Southern California’s 33-17 victory at Utah on Nov. 21.

“It’s fun to stretch myself in a different way,” Buonantony said. “I never would have been able to do that because I would be doing hockey right now. As excited as I am for hockey to come back, this is a unique opportunity to do more things.”

Along with her college football duties, Buonantony has been a regular contributor on Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN).

She hosts “The Green Zone” show each weekend and also appears on “The Lombardi Line” with Michael Lombardi.

“I cannot give enough gratitude and appreciation to the Golden Knights and AT&T SportsNet and ESPN for allowing me the opportunity to do different things and continue to work during this weird period,” Buonantony said. “Just having consistent practice being on air, no question, is going to make me better when we get to hockey for Golden Knights.”

The NHL is targeting a Jan. 13 start for the 2020-21 season with training camps possibly starting early next month. It’s unlikely that exhibition games will take place.

That might allow Buonantony to work a college football bowl game, though she is eager to resume her full-time duties with the Knights.

“Hopefully in the next couple weeks we’re supposed to have a lot of calls to plan out some of the different ways we’re going to try to provide coverage for fans,” Buonantony said. “I am so excited for Year 2 to be able to show my bosses and be able to show our fan base how much I’ve grown and how well I feel like I can cover their team now.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.