Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
LINK: How to help those affected by fires raging across Los Angeles County
The wildfires that have impacted the Los Angeles area this week are not just news headlines for Ontario Reign players and staff.
Ash-covered cars from the fires roaring miles away created an all-too-real reminder.
Multiple devastating wildfires have burned more 35,000 acres across Los Angeles since Tuesday afternoon. Fire departments from across the area – including AHL cities Bakersfield, Henderson, San Diego and San Jose – have deployed to Los Angeles to provide assistance.
While the Reign play out of Toyota Arena in Ontario, an hour to the east of L.A., the team has deep ties to the area. The AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings since 2015, the Reign share ice time with their NHL parent team at their joint practice facility, the Toyota Sports Performance Center, in El Segundo, Calif. Both teams are owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group as part of its international portfolio.
With the Reign practicing regularly in El Segundo, players and staff generally reside in the South Bay area and commute to Ontario for games. While El Segundo and the South Bay are at a distance from the wildfires, they are just a relatively short drive – Los Angeles traffic permitting – from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood where the fire began.
The Reign and Kings collaborate closely on and off the ice. The Kings held their second Empire Classic preseason game at Toyota Arena this past September against the rival Anaheim Ducks, and they have held intrasquad scrimmages in Ontario as well. Mikey Anderson, Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, Adrian Kempe, Andre Lee, Jacob Moverare, David Rittich, Jordan Spence, Akil Thomas and Alex Turcotte are among the Kings who are Ontario graduates. Hockey and front-office staff have worked with the Reign before advancing to roles with the Kings as well.
The Reign are hosting the Iowa Wild at Toyota Arena this weekend, and held a moment of silence before Friday’s contest. But they plan to do much more than that. The team’s Hope Reigns auction donates funds to a particular charitable cause, and their latest collection is going to World Central Kitchen. Founded by chef José Andrés in 2010, the non-profit organization has served more than 450 million hot meals during its existence and is already on the scene in Los Angeles. Reign staff are providing volunteer efforts, and the team will also collect donations that they will truck to people in need.
And the Reign’s previously scheduled First Responders Weekend on Jan. 18 and 19 will take on a greater significance now; the team plans to roll out additional efforts.
Visual reminders of the disaster have come quickly and often. One came Tuesday afternoon as the Reign took off from Los Angeles International Airport for the short flight to Las Vegas before their game with Henderson.
One quick glance outside the plane window, and they could see the rapidly developing fire roaring in the Santa Monica Mountains off in the distance – but affecting a part of the region that they and their fans call home.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
