Kings’ Anze Kopitar, Jim Hiller Speak on ‘Tragic’ Situation With LA Wildfires

While sports brings people together through differences all over the world, it’s hard to stay focused on playing a game while centered inside the tragedies occurring in Los Angeles.

As several deadly wildfires continue to spread throughout Los Angeles County and wreak devastation across neighborhoods, the Los Angeles Kings prepare to leave their community behind for a road trip in Canada.

The Kings are currently in the playoffs and have a couple of circles on their calendar during this five-game stretch, including a date with the NHL’s-best Winnipeg.

But in the abstract, nothing in the standings comes close to how paramount helping those in need around them are during this unimaginable travesty.

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“We know people that have lost their home and have been affected by it in the most tragic ways too,” captain Anze Kopitar said today. “Yeah, it’s hard, it’s bad timing. At the end of the day, I guess, we’ve got to do what we got to do, but we’re thinking about the families and wishing them all the best.”

This is something entirely unfamiliar, even for someone like Anze Kopitar, who has seen nearly two decades of NHL seasons in Los Angeles.

The uncertainty has touched everyone in the organization, with staff members displaced and tensions rising as circumstances worsen. While others outside the team face even greater hardships, the impact within the Kings’ locker room is still deeply felt.

For Kopitar, witnessing the widespread loss serves as a stark reminder of the bigger picture.

“It’s extremely hard to even comprehend what’s going on,” Kopitar said. “In my 19 years here, I’ve never seen anything remotely close. Yeah, there were fires, but not in a populated area to where people are losing lives, losing houses and pretty much everything that they’ve worked for their entire life. Obviously thoughts and prayers with everybody that have lost a loved one……it’s extremely hard. Hopefully this gets under control fairly quickly.”

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The Kings’ game against the Calgary Flames in Los Angeles was rightfully cancelled and head coach Jim Hiller said the team spent the time investing in what is happening around them.

“You see it, it’s terrible and then you see the people out there trying to help, doing their job,” Hiller said. “You have so much respect for those [people], I’m sure there hasn’t been a lot of sleep for those guys, I was talking about that with my wife, they just go. It’s pretty incredible. When the chips are down, they’re the ones there.”

To stay informed on the ongoing California wildfires, visit the resources below.

To help, click here to donate to the California Fire Foundation.Click here to donate to the Salvation Army for fire relief efforts.

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