The NHL Global Series has officially hit Melbourne, Australia with the LA Kings and Arizona Coyotes touching down in Melbourne for a two game preseason series at Rod Laver Arena.
Fans filled the stands at practice on Friday as anticipation builds towards the Saturday and Sunday matchups, as Australia witnesses ice hockey on a scale not seen in the country.
For the NHL the Global Series – which has been a success worldwide, it’s about building the brand, while also looking to improve the visibility and accessibility for the sport within Australia.
Ticket sales and fan engagement has been well received, something that has even surprised the NHL.
“It was very surprising in the sense that it’s such an amazing sports culture,” said NHL Senior Executive Vice President, Media & International Strategy – David Proper.
“We thought that to break through the clutter and really get people interested would be difficult, and we haven’t found that at all.
“If anything, we have been just welcomed by the government, the Visit Victoria people have been great, the Minister of Sport was at the event that we were at yesterday and he was very positive about having us here.
“The Fed [Federation] Square people, the city people, it just seems that everything has been such a welcoming nature.
“And at a point in time when there is big sporting events going on in Australia, it’s really gratifying to have that support from everyone here.”
Since arriving, the Kings and Coyotes have been active on the local scene, what they have been able to accomplish with clubs and junior players at grassroots level is promising.
Both organisations have been running clinics, helping local ice hockey players with development, while also getting out for cultural and fan appearances.
Building a fanbase and connection in Australia is something all NHL clubs’ brand towards, whether or not it’s the Kings or Coyotes returning for a second trip is uncertain, what is clear is the NHL are committed to helping build ice hockey in Australia.
“All of our teams in the league will do things that are targeted towards Australia in terms of promoting things here and doing that,” continued Proper.
“In terms of coming over here, I think you could see alumni certainly, what’s going to be important is that those players and us, and all the people, the alumi, that we have brought over, they all go back and talk about what an amazing place this is, because it is an amazing place to come.
“Everybody kind of does the ‘all the distance’ but once you get past that, and you really just say I’m going to go, then you are going to start to see a lot of people.
“Because I know all the people that we brought over alumni-wise, they are just raving, they just keep talking about how great this experience has been.
“Yeah, it was a long flight, but once you set foot here it was just nonstop fun.” LA Kings v Arizona Coyotes will face each other at Rod Laver Arena on Sep 23 & 24 with puck drop for both games at 2pm.
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