RIGA, Latvia --Kevin Fiala didn't have the shortest trip to get to the 2023 IIHF World Championship.
His flight from Los Angeles brought him to Riga by way of Zurich.
But it was a lower-body injury that delayed his arrival to play for Switzerland at the tournament the most.
"It feels great to be here again," the Los Angeles Kings forward said Monday. "It was some tough decisions to make the last couple weeks here and there because of my injury, obviously. Just excited to see the boys again. Just excited to be a part of this group again. They've had a good start. Just trying to help them to win more games."
Fiala's injury plagued him late in the regular season and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He missed 13 of 16 regular-season games March 11-April 13, and was absent for the first three games of the playoffs.
He returned for Game 4 of the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round against the Edmonton Oilers and had six points (one goal, five assists) before the Kings were eliminated in Game 6 on April 29.
"I had a tough injury, actually. Injuries are never good timing, I think, but I had it right before playoffs," said Fiala, who is making his fifth appearance at the World Championship, and first since 2019. "I missed some time, missed some games at the start of the playoffs. I jumped back, came back, which I was very happy with. I just had to finish up the rehab, make sure everything was alright, and here we are.
"We had to make 100 percent sure that everything was cured. For this reason, I came a little later (to Riga). I'm very happy that everything worked out in rehab."
Despite the early exit from the playoffs, it was a successful first season for Fiala in Los Angeles. He had 72 points (23 goals, 49 assists) in 69 games, after he had an NHL career-high 85 points (33 goals, 52 assists) in 2021-22 with the Minnesota Wild.
Fiala was acquired by the Kings from the Wild on June 28 for defenseman prospect Brock Faber and a first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2022 NHL Draft. He then signed a seven-year, $55.125 million contract with the Kings.
"It was a new team and a new challenge for me," Fiala said. "I'm happy about everything. Unfortunately, we were eliminated way too early. It's never easy coming to a new team, you have to play well from the beginning. I think I did a good job in that regard. My teammates have helped me well from the beginning. The entire organization is just top-notch.
"From there, it's been relatively easy for me."
Fiala, who joins Switzerland as a late addition alongside Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler of the New Jersey Devils, found a way to extend the season at the World Championship. Much to the delight of his teammates.
"He's highly talented," Switzerland captain and Winnipeg Jets forward Nino Niederreiter said. "He's highly skilled. He's super fast. He's an elite player. The last two, three years he took his game to a whole other level. He belongs in the category of being a high-end skill guy in the NHL and he deserves it. He's a great, greatly talented player."
The goal now is to help take Switzerland to another level.
"We are good friends. We played a lot together in juniors," said Switzerland forward Denis Malgin, who split this season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche. "It's going to be fun to play with him. He's a really great guy on and off the ice. It's going to be fun. He's a great skill guy. He's fast. He can make plays.
"It's always good, right, to get a guy like this. It's going to be fun."
Switzerland won silver medals at the World Championship in 2013 and 2018 but finished fifth in 2022.
The allure of coming, Fiala admitted, was to help put them over the top.
"Switzerland is not a very big country. We still haven't reached our goal yet," he said. "It's always nice representing Switzerland. We're such a small group.
