Adrian Kempe reflects back on first hat trick

They throw their hats on the ice in Sweden, there's just not as many.
When Adrian Kempe thinks back to his first NHL hat trick five years ago, he is reminded that the custom of tossing hats to the ice in celebration is also practiced in his home country, but just not as fervently.
"They actually do, but it's not as crazy as over here," he said after practice recently.

While the Swedes may not chuck their caps as zealously, Kings fans had every reason to make hats rain down to the ice when Kempe notched his first big-league hat trick, five years ago yesterday.
It was Kempe's first full season at the NHL level, having spent the previous campaign split between the Kings and the AHL's Ontario Reign. Kempe entered an early-season matchup against Montreal with just 30 NHL games - and just two NHL goals - to his name.
Heading into the third period in the game against the Canadiens on October 18, 2017, the score was tied 1-1 and Kempe still had just two NHL goals, though that was quickly about to change.
With less than eight minutes remaining, Kempe caught a pass from Trevor Lewis and shoveled the puck past goaltender Al Montoya to break the deadlock. Although there was some initial confusion as to whether it counted, referee Brad Meier signaled adamantly that it was a good goal.
While Kempe didn't recall much about the first one, he certainly remembered the next two.

"One was a breakaway, I think that was my second one," he said.
After setting up the Kings' third goal, just over six minutes later, Kempe got loose at center ice and skated in all alone towards the Montreal net. Although Andrew Shaw made a diving attempt to thwart his advance, Kempe evaded his attempted defensive effort and put the puck up and over Montoya for his second of the night.
And as for the third one?
"That was a one-timer from the slot," Kempe recalled.
Less than two minutes later, Mike Cammalleri, who assisted on Kempe's first tally, found him just outside the left faceoff circle. Kempe wired it into the back of the net as he completed the hat trick to cap off a four-goal third period for the Kings.
As the hats poured onto the ice, Kempe embraced the moment.
"It was cool," he said. "It was my rookie year too and pretty early on, so it was a good feeling to score all three in the same period, so it was cool and very exciting."
The three-goal output triggered a breakout season for Kempe, who tallied three times in his next four games. He went on to post 16 goals and 37 points in his first full season in the league, totals he would not surpass until last season, when he notched 35 goals and 54 points.
Kempe's next hat trick came nearly three years later and marked an important milestone in franchise history. Playing against Anaheim, Kempe became the first Kings player to record a three-goal performance against the rival Ducks. A pretty remarkable feat when you consider the nearly 30 years of history between the two teams until that point.
"It always feels good to score in Anaheim, so to get all three was great," Kempe said. "We ended up losing in OT, so it kind of sucked [with the result] but other than that it was a good feeling."
When the Kings squared off in Anaheim again two nights later, Kempe almost accomplished the feat a second time in as many nights. After he opened the scoring early in the first period, Kempe got another goal late in the middle frame, but could not find a third in a 5-1 victory.
"I had chances for a hat trick that night," he said. "Could've been a back-to-back one but unfortunately not."
It's almost just as well. With fans still shut out of NHL arenas at that point in the season due to the pandemic, there wouldn't have been any hats for Kempe. Assuming it comes at home, when Kempe inevitably buries his next hat trick - he had eight, two-goal games a season ago and already has one here in the early stages of the 2022-23 season - the overflow of hats on the ice will certainly make up for it.