Melbourne soaks in ‘pretty awesome’ experience at NHL Global Fan Tour

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Two brothers stepped up to the bubble hockey tables, each wearing an Arizona Coyotes Kachina jersey. They faced off against members of those Coyotes, with 16-year-old Jackson Mitchell taking on Victor Soderstrom and 12-year-old Blake taking on Michael Carcone.

“It was really fun, a good experience,” Jackson said. “Never played it before.”

Blake said, “I’m not great at it. I think it was about 4-0, I lost. I’ve got to get better.”

They took on the Coyotes players on a beautiful Saturday afternoon on the plaza here outside Rod Laver Arena at the NHL Global Fan Tour, the League’s traveling fan festival. The free event, part of the 2023 NHL Global Series, was open to the public and they came in droves, wearing jerseys from every single one of the League’s 32 teams, participating in hockey-themed games and activities, such as the Stickhandling Challenge and Hardest Shot.

When the Coyotes players took to the bubble hockey tables, they drew a crowd.

“I tied it, it was 1-1,” Soderstrom said. “That was a long time ago, probably like five or six years ago [since] I played that. That was fun.”

Soderstrom and Carcone, the scratches for the game against the Kings at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, the first in the 2023 NHL Global Series, signed autographs for fans and took part in bubble hockey and the Hat Trick Hockey Challenge.

“You definitely don’t think about it, how much the game has grown already and see how much support we have here,” Carcone said. “Just getting to meet people and see how excited they are for the games here means a lot to us. We know it means a lot to them.”

Paul Mitchell, the father of Jackson and Blake, became a Los Angeles Kings fan on a trip to the United States.

“I went to a game in L.A., the Kings were playing …” Paul trailed off.

And the rest was history.

But then the NHL came to Australia, bringing not just the Kings but the Coyotes too. Blake and Jackson decided to be a little cheeky.

“We thought we’d go against Dad and go [for] the rival team,” Jackson said. “We also like the logo.”

Blake broke in.

“Create a rivalry,” he said.

Accompanied by Amy, whose vintage Kings sweatshirt was from Culture Kings, and daughter Tayla, 19, the family had come from Adelaide for the game Saturday.

There were quite a few fans decked out in both Kings and Coyotes gear, in addition to the Mitchell family, something that brought home for the players how international the game has become, how their sport preceded the NHL players to Australia.

“We’re so far away, to see how many fans there are, it’s pretty crazy,” Carcone said. “Even the L.A. jerseys, there’s a lot out here too. It’s pretty awesome.”

And as for the decision by Jackson and Blake to be fans of the Coyotes rather than the Kings? Both the Coyotes players were fully on board.

“Whatever you’ve got to do to make some competition in the family,” Soderstrom said.