Winter Olympics Preview – Brock Faber, Former Kings & So-Cal Natives Head To Beijing

Good Morning, Insiders!

A few pieces to come today, including a check-in with the Ontario Reign in Grand Rapids, as well as a reflection back on the most successful road trip in LA Kings history. But first, a look ahead to the Olympics, giving you your first taste of hockey during the break, with the tournament beginning last night here in our time zone.

The women’s tournament was the first to get underway, with time zones making this tournament an interesting one for viewership. Southern California native, and former LA Jr. King, Cayla Barnes is on that team, looking for her second consecutive gold medal. The United States began with a 5-2 victory over Finland earlier today in pool play, with Barnes collecting an assist, while Canada defeated Switzerland by a……12-1 final. Japan and the Czech Republic also opened pool play with 3-1 victories over Sweden and China respectively.

The group stage of the women’s event runs through February 8, followed by the playoff round from February 11 through February 16. The gold-medal game is set for that final day, with an 8:10 PM puck drop on February 15 here in California, if my math serves correct.

The woman’s team trained at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo last week, before they departed for Beijing. Prepping us for the women’s tournament are interviews on LA Kings platforms with Barnes, a native of Eastvale, California, who joined the All The Kings Men Podcast, as well as forwards Dani Cameranesi and Kelly Pannek joining Tradin’ Jabs live from California, before they headed off to China.

The men’s tournament, featuring LA Kings prospect Brock Faber, is set to begin one week from today, on Thursday, January 10. Faber and the United States will play on 2/10, 2/12 and 2/13 in China, as well as at least one game in the playoff round, which begins on 2/15.

Faber was expected to be a key contributor at the World Junior Championships in December, but that tournament was cancelled after just two days of game action. Faber now gets a second lease on international action, but now at the senior level for the first time. Faber is joined by Manhattan Beach native Brendan Brisson, as well as former Kings forward Nick Shore and former Kings prospect Brian O’Neill with the United States. While the names are lower profile without the NHL participating, you’ll recognize former Kings such as Tobias Reider, Oscar Fantenberg and Christian Folin, amongst others, participating in the event.

The men’s gold-medal game is set for February 20 in China and February 19 at 8:10 PM Pacific time, again if my math checks out. Trying to translate Beijing time to Pacific time, while on Eastern time is making my head spin here this morning.

Faber joined Tradin’ Jabs before the World Juniors, with the hopes he may join another Kings program in advance of the tournament in Beijing! Hear from Faber from his interview back in December below.

Happy Thursday, Insiders! Will do our best to keep the site flowing with content over the next week or so until the Kings return to action with practice late next week and certainly more to come later on today!