The NHL made the long-standing rumors official today with the announcement that the league is heading to Australia for the latest incarnation of the NHL Global Series. The Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes will play two pre-season games in Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena, known best as the home of the Australian Open, on September 23 and 24, 2023.
While this will be the first appearance for the NHL in the southern hemisphere, the league is no stranger to playing games outside of North America. Just this past season, regular season games were played in Finland and Czechia, with pre-season games in Germany and Switzerland.
The Kings are also frequent ambassadors for the NHL; most recently, they played two pre-season games in China in 2017. They also have made appearances in Austria, Germany, England, and Sweden dating back to 2007.
And while the Arizona Coyotes aren’t exactly who most people would think of as the best ambassador for showing new fans the best the NHL has to offer, they’ve played previously in Latvia and Czechia, both in 2010.
Fans interested in making the trek to Melbourne can sign up to receive access to the general admission ticket sale, or if you’ve got lots of money to throw around, travel and hospitality packages (including reserved premium seats) are available now.