Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, left, speaks with goaltender Darcy Kuemper after the team's win against the New Jersey Devils during an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ryan Sun

WINNIPEG - The Los Angeles Kings were thinking about friends and family in wildfire-ravaged California as they embarked on an eight-day road trip that kicked off Friday in Winnipeg.

It has been tough for players to concentrate on hockey with four major fires tearing through neighbourhoods in the greater Los Angeles area.

"It’s hard to be away right now," Kings forward Trevor Moore said after the team's morning skate. "It’s the worst fire I have ever seen in California in my time. It is just awful.

"We are thankful for the men and women who are the first responders and taking care of everything. We are thinking and praying for everyone.”

The Kings' five-game road trip includes stops in Seattle and Western Canada.

Moore, the Kings' lone California native, has received heartbreaking updates from friends, family and loved ones since the fires began on Tuesday.

“It’s definitely hard,” he said. “I open up my Instagram and see a lot of people I grew up with who lost family homes, so you think about all those people. It’s a tough time.”

No member of the Kings' roster has lost a home in the record-setting blaze.

Moore, 29, saw the fires raging below as the Kings’ plane took off for Manitoba on Thursday. He's having trouble imagining the struggle that others are facing just south of his hometown of Thousand Oaks, Calif.

“It’s horrible," he said. "You can’t imagine losing your childhood home in a fashion like that, something where you have so many memories. And you lose cherished memories and pictures and everything that was so important to you. It’s hard to really imagine.”

There have been 10 reported deaths and over 150,000 people have been forced to evacuate, officials said.

With the fires expected to continue into the weekend, the players don't know what to expect when they return home on Jan. 18.

“We were blowing ash off our driveway the last couple days,” Moore said when describing the distance between his house and the fires. “We are lucky where we are to have that being the only thing that’s affected us.”

Teammate Phillip Danault estimates his family home is less than 45 kilometres away from the fires. He shared an emotional goodbye with his wife and two children before departing for Manitoba.

“It’s kind of weird, to be honest, to leave our family back home,” Danualt said. “But it's part of our job ... we're thankful for all the women and men fighting the fire right now.

"It's just a sad couple of days, and hopefully they can (contain) the fire (as much) as possible.”

Players from both teams planned to wear Los Angeles Fire Department stickers on their helmets on Friday night at Canada Life Centre.

“I don’t think there has been anybody (on the team) who hasn’t had somebody in some way been affected," said Kings head coach Jim Hiller. "Whether that’s evacuees or friends or whatever it might be. It’s tragic."

The Kings' home game against the Calgary Flames last Wednesday had to be postponed. Los Angeles hasn't played since a 2-1 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning last Saturday.

“We are just going to try to do our thing here and play hockey for everyone back home,” Moore said. “Give them something to maybe take their minds off of what’s going on."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025