Toffoli Excited for Dodgers Night as LA Kings Host Arizona Coyotes

During LA Kings Night at Dodger Stadium in 2016, Tyler Toffoli swung at a pitch while taking batting practice, made contact and barely felt a thing.
The ball then floated in the air over the outfield wall for a home run, much to Toffoli's delight.

"It feels like you kind of swing and miss. It's like hitting a golf ball is the same thing, you know you hit it well when you don't really feel it so it was cool," Toffoli said of his homer. "It was really fun."
Toffoli, who is from Scarborough, Ontario, has become a big Dodgers fan convert since moving to Los Angeles. His fiancée works for the team and Toffoli has found joy in frequenting Dodgers games over the summer months. He has also struck up a friendship with Dodgers third-baseman Justin Turner, whose wife is friends with Toffoli's fiancée.

Saturday's 7:30 p.m. game at STAPLES Center between the Kings and Arizona Coyotes is
Dodgers Night, which includes an LA Kings and LA Dodgers co-branded drawstring backpack giveaway
for all fans in attendance.
"I got to know a couple of the guys. It's one of those things I want to see them do well and being in LA it's obviously really cool when another team in LA is doing well," Toffoli said.

Toffoli watched as the Dodgers reached 104 wins and made their first World Series since 1988, losing in Game 7 to the Houston Astros. He attended Games 6 and 7 of the World Series and noticed a lot of the same local energy around the Dodgers that he saw with the Kings during their 2014 Stanley Cup run where he notched 14 points in 26 games.
"When they won Game 6 it was obviously a really cool moment for everybody who was there and assuming that the fans at home watching as well were just as excited," Toffoli said. "The atmosphere was second-to-none. It definitely felt like one of the moments when we had our run there."
During the Dodgers' postseason, Toffoli tried to give Turner and people he knew on the team some space because he understood they had a job to do. This restraint came from his own experiences as an athlete in the playoffs.
"I texted them every once in a while, but for the most part just kind of treat it the same way I'd want to be treated if I was on a run like that," Toffoli said. "I don't want to be bothered too much."
Toffoli said he went to some Toronto Blue Jays games growing up and played baseball as a kid, but noted he wasn't a "die hard baseball fan."
Toffoli's Dodgers fandom came in part because he has soaked up so much of Los Angeles' sporting culture since he joined the Kings organization.
"My friends who live in LA, they're Dodger fans as well so when I go (to games) with them, they're really excited," he said. "They want to see their LA team win."
As for Dodger Night, Toffoli is looking forward to seeing some Los Angeles pro team synergy, and also getting two points for the Kings in another big game.
"It's usually a good time. We usually wear those (Dodger-themed) jerseys for warm-ups, which are usually pretty cool," Toffoli said. "I'm excited and obviously want to get a win for us as well."