Morning Releases – Kings Recall Spence, Beach Cleanup, Frozen Fury Details

Good Morning, Insiders!

Sharing three Kings releases from the last 12 hours, with a bit of elaboration coming on the top bullet, which you’re likely most concerned with as it pertains to the stretch run.

First and foremost, the Kings have recalled defenseman Jordan Spence from the Ontario Reign on an emergency basis.

Spence has appeared in five games with the Kings this season, collecting one assist, which came last month in Colorado. As is the case with Bjornfot, Spence is no stranger to playing games at this time of the year, as he featured in 24 NHL contests – all during the stretch run – during the 2021-22 season, as well as three during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Spence provides strong skating ability, as well as puck-moving skills and offensive instincts. He’s put a lot of time and effort into the other parts of his game – the defensive game – at the AHL level. While it hasn’t been perfect and he’s still developing and evolving, Spence has taken on the most difficult matchups with the Reign on a nightly basis and has still produced offensively, with the AHL’s third-best points-per-game pace among skaters with at least 50 games played. Spence has familiarity with Sean Walker, with the two partnering in that game against the Avalanche, with a solid first showing. With two injuries on the backend, to Mikey Anderson and Alexander Edler, we’ll see if he gets a look in Vegas tomorrow evening. Expect him to travel with the team on the road and we’ll see what lines and pairings look like tomorrow morning at T-Mobile Arena.

As was the case when the Kings recalled Tobias Bjornfot yesterday, with the Kings falling below six healthy defensemen at game time, they would be allowed to dress one of Bjornfot or Spence to fill that sixth spot. We saw the situation arise with Bjornfot on the roadtrip, but when all six defensemen were able to play, Bjornfot was assigned to Ontario right after rosters were submitted. The same could happen with one of the two tomorrow, potentially, but we also know that several players are banged up at this time of the year, above and beyond what you see on an injury report……..tis the season.

Kings are on the ice for a short skate today, before departing for Vegas this afternoon, with Spence expected to be a part of that group for today’s practice.

Additionally, sharing a pair of releases from the organization, one on Frozen Fury 2023 and one on an upcoming community initiative.

Frozen Fury
The Kings are heading back to Utah in the fall for the fifth straight preseason. The Kings will take on the San Jose Sharks in preseason action on Thursday, October 5 at 6 PM Pacific time in the team’s annual exhibition game in Salt Lake City. The Kings have previously hosted Vancouver and Vegas in Utah and this season’s edition will feature the Sharks for the first time.

More details on the game are provided below –

The LA Kings will again host Frozen Fury as part of the club’s 2023 NHL Preseason Schedule, the team announced today, as the club’s popular Frozen Fury exhibition series returns to Vivint Arena – Utah’s premier sports and entertainment venue in downtown Salt Lake City, to be renamed the Delta Center as of July 1, 2023 – for a second consecutive season. The game will take place on Thursday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. MT / 6 p.m. PT when the Kings will face the San Jose Sharks.

Tickets for Frozen Fury, presented by the Utah Sports Commission, will go on sale at 9 a.m. PT on Friday, April 14, exclusively online at vivintarena.com with presales to the Kings, Sharks, and Utah Jazz fans starting Wednesday, April 12.

The Oct. 5 game will mark the fifth time the Kings have played a preseason game in Salt Lake City since 2018, and it will be the first time they will face off against the San Jose Sharks in the Frozen Fury series. The matchup in Salt Lake City will be a Kings “home” game. The game in Salt Lake City marks the first announced so far as part of the 2023 LA Kings preseason schedule, with the remainder to be announced this summer.

Frozen Fury was created by the Kings in 1997 at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas and took place in Las Vegas until 2016, when its final game in the series took place as the first-ever hockey game at the T-Mobile Arena. Frozen Fury moved to Salt Lake City in 2021.

Kings & Ducks Partner On Beach Cleanup
Additionally, the Kings have partnered with the Anaheim Ducks for an off-ice collaboration tomorrow, the Freeway Face-Off Beach Clean-Up. The staffs of both organizations will join forces tomorrow afternoon in Long Beach, one week prior to the teams concluding their regular-season schedules on the ice at Honda Center.

More on the event below –

In support of NHL Green, Kings and Ducks staff members and fans will come together off the ice this Thursday, April 6, from 1-3 p.m. for a ‘Freeway Face-Off Beach Clean-Up.’ The special event will see the organizations join forces to clean the beach with Ryan Hickman from Ryan’s Recycling and Project3R. Hickman, 13 years old, is a globally recognized environmentalist and recycling advocate.

“This is the second time the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks organizations are coming together for a cause,” said Kings Senior Vice President of Community Relations Jennifer Pope. “We are excited to continue to build off the success of our efforts last year and channel our on-ice rivalry for the good of our planet, specifically our shared coastline.”

The Freeway Face-Off Beach Clean-Up will take place in Long Beach and will include a fun afternoon of beautifying our community in support of Hickman’s passion for recycling and keeping our coastlines clean. More than 150 staff volunteers are expected to participate.

Address: Granada Beach…5100 E Ocean Blvd…Long Beach, 90803

We’ll have a story on the newly signed Cole Krygier coming up later on today, after he signed his entry-level contract with the Kings. Thanks for following, Insiders!