The Kings Return to Their Kingdom

It was 9:55 a.m. on Sunday morning and LA Kings forward Brendan Lemieux was passionately shouting out instructions for one last on-ice activity for 50 or so wide-eyed elementary-aged hockey players at the LA Kings Ice at Promenade on the Peninsula ice rink. The ensuing chaos could only be described as hockey's version of dodgeball, and it put the event over the allotted time frame, but nobody cared.
It's been almost three years since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down sports and the rest of the world in March of 2020. In the two seasons since, strict protocols have been in place to keep NHL players from intimate interaction with fans, media, and the community wherever possible.
Now, in 2023, things have largely returned to a previously-loved normal, as LA Kings players visited five area rinks on Sunday for the "We Are All Kings" Rink Tour, their first official community outreach event post-pandemic.
"There's the giving back to the community and going to the rinks - whether it's the arenas, the hospitals, charities, just spending some time with the little guy in the rink here that all is part of our responsibility as individuals, team, organization, and guys here are really good about it," said Kings Head Coach Todd McLellan following the team's practice on Friday. "I'm sure on an off-day nobody wants to wake up and drive across the city to a rink, but they accept it, they do it, and they do a really good job of it, and we're responsible for it.
The five ice rinks included in the tour, which are all in some part owned and/or operated by the Kings and American Sports Entertainment Company, were: LA Kings Ice at Pickwick Gardens, LA Kings Ice at Promenade on the Peninsula, LA Kings Iceland at Paramount, The Cube Santa Clarita, and Toyota Sports Performance Center. At each rink a community partner provided players of all ages to showcase the wide range of opportunities within the sport of ice hockey that exists in the Los Angeles area, including disabled, special needs, female, underserved, and affordable entry hockey. The LA Kings Sled Hockey Team, Hawthorne Force and Power Project, SNAP Flyers Hockey Club, LA Lions and Little Kings participants were all on the ice with a small group of Kings players at their respective rinks.

Lemieux attended the event with teammates Matt Roy, Pheonix Copley, and Alex Iafallo, and the quartet spent an hour with former Little Kings program participants, working on various skating, shooting and puck-handling drills. The Little Kings Learn-To-Play program is a Kings initiative that brings affordable entry hockey to local aspiring players.

Lemieux was especially enthusiastic during the event and at one point could be seen skating with two small hockey players in his arms and a huge grin on his face. When asked who had more fun on the ice, him or the kids, his answer came without hesitation.
"I definitely did, it was a blast," said the 26-year-old left wing, after allowing himself to be mobbed for photos post-skate. "It's the little things like rolling your bag into the rink where you get brought back to being a kid, how much being around professionals means to being a kid. I remember it well and I remember growing up around it."
Lemieux's childhood experience is unique in that his father is former Conn Smythe Trophy winner and four-time Stanley Cup Champion, Claude Lemieux, who spent a total of 21 seasons in the NHL. As a kid, Brendan remembers well, being able to hang out with his dad's teammates.
"I was lucky enough to have a dad who did it and I remember being around his teammates and how exciting it was and I'm brought back to that. It's funny, the older you get the more you enjoy it actually, entertaining the kids and watching them and seeing the looks on their faces and it's fun, it's awesome to be around," said Lemieux, who recalls being able to attend his dad's practices.
"I want them to feel what it feels like to be around us and get a little taste of professional sports and hockey and how much fun it can be because at the end of the day it's about that next generation and bringing up the kids and it's exciting to see these kids and how far they've come. Especially in Southern California, there's a lot more kids, I remember when I grew up there weren't a lot of good hockey players, these kids are going to be good players, you can see it from how old they are now, five or six, it's crazy."
Being a big believer in cultivating the next generation of hockey players, events like the Rink Tour are special to Lemieux.
"I just remember from my own experience being around kids as a hockey player, but then being the kid. And I just remember how important it is to a kid to get that attention and for guys to care about being on the ice and be competitive and I just always wanted guys to try. So when I'm out there I try, as hard as it is when they're five or six, I try and I try to show them this is how cool it looks to be right there when we do this or that or shoot, or whatever it may be," said Lemieux, whose favorite thing about Sunday's event was the looks on the kids' faces.
Coming over in a trade with the New York Rangers in March of 2021, this was Lemieux's first community appearance as a member of the Kings, and after the pandemic he has a renewed appreciation for community outreach events.
"I missed it, I remember doing five or six of these a year and now this is the first one, really. It's fun," said Lemieux, who wants to replicate his own childhood experiences with NHL players for the kids. "I think they're really important, they help build the foundation for these kids for chasing their dreams, that is professional hockey. If you don't, as an organization and as a team, come out and support these kids, five, 10, 20 years down the line these kids don't turn out to be pros, but if you make an effort, there's going to be a kid that was here today or there's going to be a kid that one of the other guys sees that's going to end up playing in the NHL. That's just the way it is and that could be the next LA King, and that's just how it works. It's our responsibility to help grow the game and help pass along a good reputation and image for the next LA Kings or for the next kids that are aspiring to be that."
Joe Thornton and Wayne Gretzky are some of the NHL superstars Lemieux remembers being influenced by when he was younger. Being able to talk to them about hockey and asking goofy questions really resonated with him and those memories have stuck with him until now.
"Guys like that are the reason that I ended up loving and becoming a hockey player, so if I can share just a little bit of that with a kid I feel like I've done my job."