When last season ended, one arm of the Kings organization immediately began the search for a new coach, president and general manager.
Another arm simultaneously launched into its own extensive project, planning the first ever NHL games in China.
The Kings and Canucks leave for Shanghai on Sunday to begin a groundbreaking week in China that has been a long time in the making.
Whether planning an excursion to the top of the 1,536-foot tall Oriental Pearl TV tower in Shanghai or calculating the ideal sleep patterns for the Kings, the fleet of employees designing the trip needed to account for nearly every minute of the coming week.
In addition to preseason games on Thursday in Shanghai and Sept. 23 in Beijing, the Kings will participate in youth hockey clinics the organization has been conducting in China for more than two years.
With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the country has set in motion a massive movement to develop youth sports of the winter variety.
Estimates are that China will have more than 500 hockey rinks completed less than three years from now, meaning only Canada, Russia and the U.S. will have more.
“Our goal is to go over there and grow the game and introduce the game to 1.3 billion people,” said Mike Altieri, the Kings Senior Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting. “I think that’s the critical component of this whole experience.”
Given that the trip is taking place during training camp, which began on Wednesday, another critical undertaking for the Kings is making sure their preparation for the regular season isn’t compromised. There is a 15-hour time change in Shanghai, to which the flight from LAX is nearly 14 hours.
There have been great measures taken to ensure minimal jet lag, among many other concerns addressed by the Kings staff.
A sleep expert was consulted about how best to pattern the Kings’ rest. The decision was made to sleep only four or five hours of the flight to Shanghai. That leaves nine or ten hours to fill.
“We’ve got lots of work to do,” Kings coach John Stevens said. “It’ll give us an opportunity to sit down with each player. Coaches can talk with D pairs or lines. (Head strength and conditioning coach) Matt Price has even put together a dynamic warm-up, an activity that’s available to them if they want to get up and move around.”
Plans for in-flight activities required relatively short-term planning compared to the effort to ensure that each player sail smoothly through customs when they arrive in China.
While players were scattered around the world during the offseason, the Kings were charged with arranging a Chinese visa for each. Obtaining the necessary documents, including each player’s passport, was no small undertaking.
On top of arranging for interpreters and drivers in China, the Kings have given the players a number of options for excursions during their down time.
Some may tour a 780-year old temple while others will shop on Nanjing Road, Shanghai’s version of New York’s Fifth Avenue.
“I haven’t had a chance to look at the itinerary yet, but I think I’ll have a little bit of time on the plane,” Kings forward Dustin Brown said on Friday. “It’s going to be a long one.”
Said center Anze Kopitar, “I really like the mongolian beef. I’m sure that will be on my menu at some point.”
The one activity in which all Kings employees will participate is a trip to the Great Wall of China while in Beijing, a excursion completed only when they bobsled from the top to the bottom.
“It’s a great opportunity to spend some time together, hopefully really root some relationships within our group,” Stevens said. “We’ll get some quality practice time, play two games and experience a culture that most if not all the players haven’t had a chance to experience.”