Jim Hiller\u2019s first experience watching a game in Ontario from above came during the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n
It was after the Kings were eliminated from the postseason themselves but the Ontario Reign were still playing, having advanced into Round 3 for the first time since 2016. Hiller had been behind the bench for exhibition games in that building before but for an AHL game, considering conflicting schedules, it was his first opportunity to watch. Although the Reign lost that night, ending their season, Hiller walked away impressed with what he had witnessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a crowd,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI came away from that, the building was electric, what a place to play in the American League. Their fans support our American League team and the games we’ve played in there, they’ve been loud for us. It’s a terrific hockey market, I love the building, so we’re always excited to get out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Games like tomorrow\u2019s Empire Classic are special for those who get to attend them, because they\u2019re just something a little bit different. While it\u2019s always nice to have the familiarity of an NHL building, the crowds are rarely full, with fans typically looking forward to Opening Night shortly thereafter. And that makes sense.<\/p>\n
When you play in an AHL market, though, it\u2019s typically the only taste of NHL action in a given season. For Ontario, that day is tomorrow, with a collection of LA Kings players set to make the trip to the Inland Empire to begin the preseason schedule. It won\u2019t be the entire NHL roster, but there will be established NHL regulars in the game, alongside players who have played AHL games in Ontario as well as some of the organization\u2019s top prospects.<\/p>\n
Greeting that group will be what is already a nearly sold out crowd, ready to embrace the NHL. There isn\u2019t an NHL Opening Night to look forward to in Ontario, but that\u2019s what makes tomorrow\u2019s game so unique, with a little extra juice that you might normally see in the preseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt adds a little bit of electricity to the building and I think it gets the players going a little bit more,\u201d Hiller added. \u201cSometimes, with the veteran players, it’s harder to motivate them in early preseason, but I know it’s special. A lot of the guys played there on their way through to the Kings, too, so they’ve been in the building, they can appreciate those fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hiller is right on the number of guys who came through the ranks.<\/p>\n
On the 2025 training camp roster, 14 players have played at least one game for both the Kings and the Reign. Several of those players are expected to be in the lineup tomorrow for the Kings in their preseason opener. While that roster will be released tomorrow morning, it didn\u2019t stop several of those players from talking about their time in Ontario earlier today.<\/p>\n
Take Alex Turcotte for example. His favorite memories from Ontario are actually exactly the same as Hiller\u2019s. Turcotte was on the ice in that playoff game, getting his first extended taste of playoff action at the professional level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey showed up every night,\u201d he said of the fans in Ontario in that playoff run.<\/p>\n
For Turcotte and so many others, the path to Los Angeles had a stop in Ontario. Turcotte played parts of four AHL seasons with the Reign, totaling 126 regular-season games, in addition to 13 more in the playoffs. He left with fond memories and knows what a stop in Ontario meant in the process of growing and developing, both professionally and personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously a lot of us went through there, so they saw us when we were just getting here and starting off our pro careers, they\u2019ve seen us grow up almost,\u201d Turcotte said of the fans in Ontario. \u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019ll really enjoy seeing guys on the Kings that went up through there, playing in front of them again on a different level. We hope they have fun and I know some of the guys are looking forward to going back and playing there again and having that support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defenseman Brandt Clarke was on that team as well, as he put together one of the more impressive rookie campaigns from a defenseman in Reign history.<\/p>\n
Clarke was selected to the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, representing the Reign at that event. With 44 points from 48 games, Clarke was selected to the AHL\u2019s Second All-Star team at the end of the season, as well as the All-Rookie team.<\/p>\n
While the dynamic young defenseman wasn\u2019t positive if he\u2019d be in the lineup or not, if he is, he is relishing the opportunity to get back to Toyota Arena and play there once again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m fortunate enough to play, I\u2019ll be excited to do that,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cI love being out there, the fans are always awesome and I\u2019m so appreciative of my time there, everyone I met was so kind. If I can go play again there, put on a good show for the fans, that\u2019d be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim Hiller\u2019s first experience watching a game in Ontario from above came during the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-157857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}