EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Jordan Spence is the first person born in Australia to play in the NHL, and he said it will be special to skate for the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL’s first event in the country even though he left when he was 1 1/2 and isn’t Australian.
The Kings and Arizona Coyotes will face off in two preseason games at Rod Laver Arena in the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Melbourne on Sept. 23 and 24. The games will be broadcast on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the United States; Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ in Canada; and 9Go, 9Now, ESPN and the ESPN App in Australia.
“Obviously, we’re going there for training camp, and I need to be focused,” Spence said at Toyota Sports Performance Center on Friday, the day before a 15 ½-hour, 8,000-mile flight to Melbourne. “But at the same time, when we have free time, I think it’s pretty cool to kind of just take everything in and enjoy the moment.”
Nathan Walker is considered the first Australian to play in the NHL even though he was born in Cardiff, Wales. He moved to Sydney when he was 2 and began playing hockey there, before moving to the Czech Republic at 13 and the U.S. at 19 to pursue a hockey career. He has represented Australia in international competition.
The forward debuted with the Washington Capitals on Oct. 7, 2017, and has 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 111 NHL games with the Capitals, Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues. He returns to Sydney each offseason.
Spence was born in Manly, a suburb of Sydney. His father, Adam, is from Canada. His mother, Kyoko, is from Japan. The family moved to Osaka, Japan, when he was 1 ½, and it was there that he began playing hockey. Partly so he could pursue a hockey career, the family moved to Cornwall, Prince Edward Island, when he was a teenager.
He said he considers himself half Japanese, half Canadian, and holds passports from Japan and Canada. He has represented Canada in international competition.