Coyotes practice immediately upon arrival in Australia for Global Series

DOCKLANDS, Australia -- The Arizona Coyotes had barely touched down in Australia, after a 15-hour flight from Los Angeles, and they were already on the ice.

"It felt great, honestly," forward Liam O'Brien said. "It felt great to be just back in a kind of more intense mode. The practices, they matter, being in camp right now. It's a nice feeling."

The Coyotes took part in their first official practice of the season at O'Brien Icehouse in Docklands, Victoria, Australia, on Monday, for about 45 minutes skating, stretching out their legs and their muscles and keeping themselves moving as they tried to avoid the pitfalls of jetlag.

The Los Angeles Kings decided to stay off the ice, opting instead to work out at the gym at Rod Laver Arena and do sprints on a nearby field. Rod Laver Arena will host the 2023 NHL Global Series. The games are Saturday and Sunday at 12 a.m. ET and will be available on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the United States, Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ in Canada and 9Go, 9Now, ESPN and the ESPN App in Australia.

For the Coyotes, there were many reasons why they wanted to skate.

"It's training camp for us," coach Andre Tourigny said. "We're excited. We want to go on the ice. We have a lot of new players and we're fortunate to be together as a team, so we want to get going building our thing and how we want to play."

But it wasn't just that.

"My experience, I've been in Europe quite a bit with Team Canada, so it's good to get on the ice, get a feel for it, get the first practice under yourself," Tourigny said.

It might be even more important for the Coyotes, who have a lot of fresh faces on their roster. They're looking at the trip as a chance to get to know each other, bond and get started on a season they hope will show some promise.

"It's super important that we kind of get things going here and get the new guys up to speed on everything," O'Brien said. "It's great that way. It's kind of more of a condensed environment than having 60 guys back in (Arizona), so I think it's a little bit easier for guys to not only get to know each other, but also build chemistry on the ice."

It should allow them a chance to help each other, figure each other out and form a bond.

"We have a lot of new faces," forward Clayton Keller said, "so it's great to get that team bonding in that you can sometimes miss early on with a bigger group, so it's nice to have basically our full team here, spend time together, get to know everyone. I think that ultimately helps you on the ice."

Especially in a place unfamiliar to nearly all of them.

"First time here," Keller said. "I've heard great things. It looks amazing. Super excited to be here and be able to grow the game and spend some time away from the rink."

And for the moment, on Monday, the Coyotes seemed to be handling the travel and jetlag well -- at least so far.

"I thought I was going to feel worse," Keller said. "Maybe I will tomorrow."

NHL.com columnist Nick Cotsonika contributed to this report.