Fire-ravaged Los Angeles weighing on Kings' minds before road game against Jets in Winnipeg

The Los Angeles Kings were thinking about friends and family in wildfire-ravaged California as they embarked on an eight-day road trip that kicked off Friday in Winnipeg.

It has been tough for players to concentrate on hockey with four major fires tearing through neighbourhoods in the greater Los Angeles area.

"It's hard to be away right now," Kings forward Trevor Moore said after the team's morning skate. "It's the worst fire I have ever seen in California in my time. It is just awful.

"We are thankful for the men and women who are the first responders and taking care of everything. We are thinking and praying for everyone."

The Kings' five-game road trip includes stops in Seattle and Western Canada.

Moore, the Kings' lone California native, has received heartbreaking updates from friends, family and loved ones since the fires began on Tuesday.

"It's definitely hard," he said. "I open up my Instagram and see a lot of people I grew up with who lost family homes, so you think about all those people. It's a tough time."

No member of the Kings' roster has lost a home in the record-setting blaze.

Moore, 29, saw the fires raging below as the Kings' plane took off for Manitoba on Thursday. He's having trouble imagining the struggle that others are facing just south of his hometown of Thousand Oaks, Calif.

"It's horrible," he said. "You can't imagine losing your childhood home in a fashion like that, something where you have so many memories. And you lose cherished memories and pictures and everything that was so important to you. It's hard to really imagine."

There have been 10 reported deaths and over 150,000 people have been forced to evacuate, officials said.

With the fires expected to continue into the weekend, the players