London opening is official
By Chris Foster and Eric Stephens, Times Staff Writers
March 2, 2007


It was confirmed that it will be the Ducks facing the Kings in London to start the 2007-08 season. The teams will play two games Sept. 29 and 30 at the O2 Arena, which was built by AEG.

The Kings will precede those games by playing in a four-team exhibition tournament in Salzburg, Austria, a league source said. The two-day Red Bulls Salute 2007 will begin Sept. 25, when the Kings play Red Bull Salzburg. HC Davis, from the Swiss National League, and Farjestad, from the Swedish Elite League, will play in the other game.

The championship and third-place games will be played Sept. 26.

The Kings will spend the first half of training camp in Southern California and will play five exhibition games in the U.S. before traveling to Europe with an open roster that will be nearly settled.

"We'll probably take three goaltenders, eight defensemen and 14 forwards, so we'll have a couple extra guys," Kings Coach Marc Crawford said.


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Kings rookie Anze Kopitar missed his first game of the season, sitting out the game against the Ducks with what Crawford called a strained upper muscle.

"We're going to be really careful with this," Crawford said.

Kopitar is doubtful for Saturday's game against the Nashville Predators, but Crawford said he was probable for the team's upcoming road trip.

awesome, I'm planning on going

I'm going to Austria,it is closer to me,coz i'm from Croatia.