Happy Thursday, Insiders!
The Anaheim Ducks formally announced today details around the 2025 Golden State Rookie Faceoff, including the Kings, the Ducks and the San Jose Sharks. The Kings participation will include games against both clubs, coming on Saturday, September 13 and Sunday, September 14. The Kings will take on San Jose on 9/13 at 1 PM and Anaheim on Sunday at 1 PM. Both games will take place at FivePoint Arena in Irvine, CA, the practice home of the Ducks.
Fans can purchase single-game tickets for $15 per game HERE. More information regarding broadcasts and rosters for the 2025 Golden State Rookie Faceoff will be announced at a later date, with the Kings expected to have a broadcast of the game available for fans, with Kings announcing talent on the call. Would think that games will be streamed on LAKings.com, as they have in the past, with the possibility of other options.
As far as Rookie Camp surrounding the games, players will report to El Segundo a few days prior to the games for Rookie Camp, which will add practices onto the games in Anaheim. Sounds like there should be practices on both sides of the games, as there has been in the past, to give the rookies a full week on the ice before most of that group will attend main camp the following week. Eligible players to participate include a decent-sized group of players who should be with the Ontario Reign this season, as well as players who are playing overseas in Europe or playing major-junior hockey in the CHL. Look for players like Liam Greentree and Carter George from the OHL to be in attendance, along with players like Koehn Ziemmer and Otto Salin, who will be playing their first professional seasons with the Ontario Reign this fall. Also expected to attend is 2025 first-round selection Henry Brzustewicz, along with his teammate in London, Jared Woolley. With just the two games as opposed to the usual three, I’d expect the Kings to have a tighter roster this season with fewer camp invitations, wanting to get drafted prospects into both games as much as possible. In general, the Kings have more draft picks who are able to play in the tournament than they’ve had in seasons past and I’d expect the bulk of them who are able to play to be there.
The only exceptions there are NCAA players, who are not permitted to attend. Guys like Hampton Slukynsky and Kristian Epperson, who the Kings would like to have on that roster, are unable to participate while playing in the NCAA. We’ll have to wait until those players sign entry-level contracts to see them in this type of event.
In terms of additional personnel, look for new Ontario Reign Head Coach Andrew Lord to be behind the bench for the games, in keeping with what the Kings have done with this event in the past. Marco Sturm was the coach for the Kings when he was with Ontario and I would expect Lord to take on the same role, flanked by Ontario associate coach Chris Hajt and assistant coach Brad Schuler. Will look to catch up with Lord for some pre-tournament content here on LAKI to preview what we might expect from the rookies next month.
With these games formally announced, it helps to bring the full September schedule into focus. With rookie games on 9/13 and 9/14, it points to a main training camp that starts the following week. We know that the Kings begin the preseason on September 21 in Ontario against the Ducks, so the window is pretty clear here. Expecting main camp to begin midweek during those days in between, when Kings veterans will join the rookies for the full camp experience.