It was a scene emblematic of an uncertain present.
Inside the auxiliary rink at the Toyota Sports Performance Center, rubber flooring covered the ice. Chairs were placed across the surface, spaced out by several feet. Kings players filed in socially distanced, masks covering their faces.
Such was the setting for the Kings’ first meeting of training camp in El Segundo last month, a stage only this pandemic-altered season could create.
When coach Todd McLellan began to speak, however, he pointed his message in a different direction, laying out the important next steps in their pursuit of a promising future.