When the Los Angeles Kings come to Kansas City for an NHL exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues next month, the Kings won&#8217;t bring a complete team.</p><p>The Kings are scheduled for two preseason openers on Sept. 22, one against St. Louis at the Sprint Center, and the other against Phoenix at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.</p><p>So the Kings, like a major-league baseball team in spring training, will send a split squad to Kansas City.</p><p>But Luc Robitaille, president of the Kings and an executive of AEG, which owns the Kings and manages the Sprint Center, promises Los Angeles will send more than a representative team to Kansas City.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very important for us to put on a great show in Kansas City,&#8221; Robitaille said. &#8220;We owe it to Kansas City. Because we have so many good young players, we&#8217;re able to do this.&#8221;</p><p>The Kings will bring about 60 players to training camp, which opens Sept. 19, but teams can suit up only 20 for a game. So having two games will enable the club, which has a new coach in Terry Murray, to give twice as many players ice time.</p><p>Split-squad situations are not totally unheard of in the NHL, but this is the only one scheduled this season. The NHL requires a minimum of eight veterans to appear in a preseason game, and players who were first-round picks qualify as veterans, so the Kings will meet that criteria in both Kansas City and Los Angeles.</p><p>The Kings, by virtue of some poor finishes the last few seasons, are loaded with some top young players, including former first-round picks in forwards Anze Kopitar, the club&#8217;s leading scorer last season, and Dustin Brown, who led the team in goals. They also have defensemen Jack Johnson; Drew Doughty, the second overall pick last spring; and Colten Teubert, the 13th overall pick.</p><p>&#8220;We have no concern about it,&#8221; said Paul McGannon, president of NHL21, who is helping promote the game. &#8220;They are bringing their best players. We went over that before we scheduled the game.</p><p>&#8220;They want Kansas City to work, and they want a good showing, and as owner-operators of the building, they want to put their best step forward.&#8221;</p><p>The Sept. 22 date was about the only one available for the hockey game. Tina Turner will perform at the Sprint Center on Oct. 1 and Oct. 8, and as part of her agreement with the arena, will be setting up shop in Kansas City and rehearsing in the building for about 10 days before the Oct. 1 show date, said Shani Tate Ross, Sprint Center director of communications and marketing.</p><p>The NBA&#8217;s Portland Trail Blazers and Atlanta Hawks will be in the building for practice on Oct. 9 and an exhibition game on Oct. 10.</p><p>&#8220;We know the preseason window is very specific,&#8221; Tate Ross said. &#8220;When we looked at the dates that would work, we had that Monday night &#8230; we believe Kansas City will come out and support it.</p><p>&#8220;That will be a true testament of support. It&#8217;s very easy for people to go to things on the weekend. We&#8217;ll see how people turn out on a weekday night. We know the eyes of both the NBA and NHL will be on our city when we have those games.&#8221;</p><p>The Blues also are promoting a trip to Kansas City for their fans with a shiny photo of the Sprint Center on their Web site.</p><p>&#8220;Those folks wouldn&#8217;t be coming up for a B-squad,&#8221; McGannon said.