As the NHL continues to finalize plans for its future slate of international games, details are beginning to take shape for a potential game in Australia.
“This year we saw the NHL travel to Switzerland and Germany and Czech Republic and Finland for games. Although nothing official yet from the NHL, we know the league is going Down Under for games in Australia,” Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek said Saturday during Hockey Night in Canada’s ’32 Thoughts’ segment. “And the question becomes, which teams will be involved?
“Again, nothing official coming out from the league, but it sounds very much like it’s trending in the direction of — and we expect it to be — the Los Angeles Kings and the Arizona Coyotes.”
The NHL has held games outside of its own teams’ cities for eight decades, dating back to the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens’ 1938 meetings in the United Kingdom. Since then, the league has played games in 15 countries, with the most recent Global Series featuring games in Bern, Switzerland; Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; and Tampere, Finland.
“There was some talk about maybe including a team like the Boston Bruins, maybe the St. Louis Blues as well — they have Nathan Walker, who is Australian,” Marek added. “But it looks very much like it’ll be the Kings and the Coyotes.”
Walker, 29, grew up in Sydney before becoming the first Australian player to be drafted to the NHL, and the first to play in the league. The six-year big-league vet is currently in his fourth season with the Blues, after stints in Washington and Edmonton.
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