Zizing ‘Em Up: Utah native Lewis excited to play against new franchise with Kings

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Monday he will use his extensive network of hockey contacts for his weekly notes column, "Zizing 'Em Up.”

TORONTO -- Trevor Lewis admits it will be “surreal.”

Come this Saturday, the Los Angeles Kings forward will look across at his opponents and realize how big that moment will be.

A native of Salt Lake City, the 37-year-old is the only Utah-born player in the NHL.

He’ll soon be facing off against his hometown team in a regular-season game for the first time when the Utah Hockey Club visits the Kings at Crypto.com Arena (4 p.m. ET: FDSNW, Utah16, SN).

It will be one of those “pinch-me-so-I-know-this-is-real experiences” in life, he admitted.

“It definitely will be,” Lewis told NHL.com in a 1-on-1 interview. “You know, just looking across and seeing UTAH on the front of their sweaters, well, it’s honestly something I never thought would ever happen when I was a kid playing hockey there.”

When Lewis was a boy in Salt Lake City, arenas were hard to find. So, too, were players.

“When I was growing up, there weren't many rinks,” he said. “It was hard to find ice time.”

And, for that matter, kids to play with.

“We had like 10 or 12 guys that we’d travel around with,” he recalled. “We’d go to different tournaments in places like Dallas and California quite a bit, up to Wyoming, and the other teams were always more advanced than us. So, we had our work cut out for us.

“Still, it was good for our development to play against those guys. You’d get lots of ice time. It was fun. And you’d be out there with kids you’d known for your whole life, so it was cool.”

Then the 2002 Winter Olympics was held in Salt Lake City. Everything changed.

“I was fortunate to go to a few of those hockey games at the Olympics,” he said. “It really drove me.

“After that, suddenly, there were more rinks. And now, when I go back in the summer, you see more and more players who are in junior and in college. It’s really cool. There are even gyms there dedicated to hockey players to train.”

Lewis was 14 when he watched the Olympic hockey competition, which saw Canada win the gold medal for the first time in 50 years. Shortly afterward, he moved to Colorado Springs where he could better develop and play against more and better competition. He calls it the best thing he ever did.

“A year before, a couple of my best buddies went there before me to play in Pike’s Peak, and they ended up loving it,” he said. “It really helped on my path to the NHL.”

A first-round pick (No. 17) by Los Angeles at the 2006 NHL Draft, Lewis has gone on to play 980 NHL games with the Kings, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets. He has 227 points (99 goals, 128 assists) and won the Stanley Cup twice with Los Angeles (2012, 2014).

He briefly had the chance to play for the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) during the 2012-13 season, when he had nine points (three goals, six assists) in six games.

These days, he says, kids don’t need to move out of Utah to play and develop. How things have changed.

“I go back every summer,” he said. “Now you go to the gym, and there are 30 hockey-playing kids in there. There are all kinds coming up through the minor hockey system there.

“It’s so cool to see compared to what was going on when I was growing up and there were only two or three kids. And it’s only going to get better with the NHL team there.

“It’s definitely grown a lot.”

All these thoughts, he said, will go through his mind when he sees that UTAH jersey across from him.

“Just cool,” he said, breaking into a huge smile. “Very cool.”

EYES IN THE SKY

The Foster Hewitt Media Gondola at Scotiabank Arena is becoming a popular place for management types to scout potential candidates for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, which runs from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.

The event, featuring Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland, will be the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. Six players were named to each of the four teams earlier this year, with the remaining spots on the rosters to be named around Dec. 1.

Sweden coach Sam Hallam, for example, had an assigned seat in the press box for the New York Rangers’ 4-1 victory at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Three days earlier, Canada associate general manager Jim Nill was on hand to scout candidates during Toronto’s 6-2 win against Los Angeles.

Nill, the GM of the Dallas Stars, said Canadian officials including GM Doug Armstrong and coach Jon Cooper, were expected to hold an imminent conference call to discuss some of the players they’d seen early in the season who are vying for spots.

“We’ve got a good staff, and everybody’s out there looking around, watching games and communicating all the time,” Nill said. “And the thing is, all these players have good resumes. So, yes, we’re watching what they’re doing now, but there’s also a history with them all, so you’ve got to bring that into play too.”

Nill said one of the most disappointing things for Canada early on is the injury suffered by Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who had surgery earlier this month to repair a fractured left ankle.

“It’s tough for him,” Nill said. “He’s a guy that definitely was in the mix for us. Let’s see what his time frame is regarding when he gets back. Let’s see how that works itself out.

“That’s the intriguing part of this tournament. There are going to be injuries unfortunately for guys, [but] we’ll just have to work around that.”

As for Canada’s seemingly uncertain goaltending situation, Nill said he isn’t worried.

“We’re less concerned about it than people out there seem to be,” Nill said. “We’ve got guys who have won Stanley Cups, and that goes a long way.”

Nill was referring to Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues and Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights.

In the meantime, the auditions continue.

4 NATIONS STOCK MARKET

Each Monday, we’ll take a look at two candidates vying to make one of the teams (United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland) participating in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off -- one who’s hot, one who’s not.

Who’s hot: Sam Reinhart, Canada

The West Vancouver native scored 57 goals last season, 24 more than his previous high of 33 set in 2021-22. A one-off? A fluke? Hardly. At 28, he’s just entering his prime and seems to be blossoming at just the right time. Coming off a season in which he helped the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup, he’s started 2024-25 on a roll with 12 points (five goals, seven assists) and is plus-5 in seven games. If this keeps up, he’s making the decision of Canadian management officials for them.

Who’s not: Viktor Arvidsson, Sweden

The 31-year-old was expected to flourish after leaving the Kings to sign as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers on July 1. With a top-six forward role awaiting him and the chance to play with elite players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, it appeared he would be the perfect fit for an Oilers team that came one goal short in its bid to win the Stanley Cup against the Panthers. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way through the first two weeks of the season. In six games with Edmonton, he’s still looking for his first point and has just nine shots on goal. Not the type of audition for Sweden he was looking for, although there is still plenty of time to turn things around.

KURRI WINS BORJE SALMING COURAGE AWARD

Finnish hockey legend Jari Kurri has been named the second recipient of the Borje Salming Courage Award, NHL Alumni Association president Glenn Healy told NHL.com.

Healy said Kurri will be presented with the award at Tampere City Hall on the afternoon of Nov. 2 during the festivities surrounding the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal. The series will feature the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers facing off against the Western Conference runner-up Dallas Stars at Nokia Arena in Tampere on Nov. 1 and 2.

The honor goes to the Europe-born NHL alum who has been a positive influence in their community and best embodies Borje Salming’s lasting legacy of courage, bravery and dedication on and off the ice. The first recipient of the award was Swedish Hall of Fame defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, the seven-time Norris Trophy winner as the top defenseman in the NHL who received it during a swank ceremony at the spiffy Cafe Opry in Stockholm last Nov. 16 prior to the opening game of the 2023 NHL Global Series presented by Fastenal in Stockholm between the Red Wings and Ottawa Senators.

The award was created in honor of the late Salming, who Healy calls “a pioneer.” Salming died at 71 from ALS on Nov. 24, 2022.

In 1973, then-Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Jim Gregory made waves by signing Salming and forward Inge Hammerstrom. On Jan. 4, 1988, he became the first European to play 1,000 NHL games. In 1996, he became the first European player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, representing a legacy that opened the door for players around the world to aspire to play in the world’s top league.

Kurri, 64, played for the Oilers, Kings, Rangers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Colorado Avalanche from 1980-98. He had 1,398 points (601 goals, 797 assists) and won the Stanley Cup five times with Edmonton. He led the NHL with 68 goals in 1985-86 and became the first Finnish-born player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001, the same year his No. 17 was retired by the Oilers.

“What Jari has done for the sport in his native country speaks for itself,” Healy said. “He was a trailblazer and a worthy recipient of the award.”

Healy said the ceremony will be attended by the mayor of Tampere (Kalervo Kummola), up to 70 former Finnish NHLers, and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, among others. Kurri will then drop the puck for the ceremonial opening face-off between the Stars and Panthers that night.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

“Obviously being where I’m from, I want to know when the game against Toronto is. But I’m sure he’s excited to play against us and wants to beat us. We’ll be up for the challenge.”

-- St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, a native of Richmond Hill (just north of Toronto), on facing former Blues coach Craig Berube on Thursday for the first time since he was hired as Maple Leafs coach. The two won the Stanley Cup together with St. Louis in 2019. Asked if he’s ready to defeat his former coach, Binnington smiled and said, “Yeah.”

THE LAST WORD

There will always be debate about who the NHL’s greatest dynasty was.

During the NHL’s Centennial celebrations in 2017, for example, fans voted the 1984-85 Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers as the best team of all-time.

For some of us, however, it was the Montreal Canadiens' run of four Stanley Cup titles from 1975-79.

To that end, on Tuesday, prior to the game between the current Canadiens and Rangers at Bell Centre in Montreal, those legendary Montreal teams of the late 1970s will be honored in what is being billed as “Tribute to the Champions.”

Included in the list of legendary players who will be on hand: Hall of Famers Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden and Bob Gainey.

There have been many special nights at Bell Centre and, before that, the Montreal Forum, a testament to how the rich history of the game oozes in that city.

Tuesday will be yet another one of them.