Kevin Fiala is writing a blog for NHL.com as the Los Angeles Kings visit Melbourne, Australia, in the NHL's first event in the Southern Hemisphere. The Kings will play the Arizona Coyotes in two preseason games at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday and Sunday. The games will start at 12 a.m. ET and air on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the United States; Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ in Canada; and 9Go, 9Now, ESPN and the ESPN App in Australia.
Today, the forward writes about interacting with young Australian hockey players after practice Wednesday.
DOCKLANDS, Australia -- That was awesome.
After practice at O'Brien Icehouse on Wednesday, I stayed on the ice with teammate Matt Roy and helped put on a clinic for the Dockland Ice Wolves, a team of Australian players younger than 11 who play at this rink.
Kings goalie coach Mike Buckley and Kings radio color commentator Daryl Evans helped too.
Personally, I love stuff like that with children. I remember when I went to hockey camps as a kid in Switzerland, and I had a camp for kids back home a month ago. I love stuff like that, especially in a place like Australia. The hockey's probably not that big.
Surprisingly, the kids knew who we were. They knew about the L.A. Kings, and some even said we were their favorite team. They knew who we were as players. That made it even more fun.
We just played around. Everybody had a puck, and they tried to keep it while someone else tried to take it away. We had a race for the puck. Whoever was faster would grab the puck and score. The kids were excited when they beat me in the race. They were very happy. We also did some penalty shots.
I think the kids enjoyed it a lot, so that's the main point.
