Kings Teammates Admire Brown’s Toughness
It takes a lot to get Dustin Brown to miss a game. Even Martin Hanzal’s dangerous hit on Brown midway through the third period of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals wasn’t enough to sideline him for more than a matter of minutes.
“I was a little shocked how quick he did get up, from how it looked,” Jarret Stoll said. “It was a pretty dangerous play. He was vulnerable.”
Stoll added that he thinks Brown will be “ready for Game 3” despite needing some work on his neck. At this point, that kind of toughness has earned Brown a reputation among his teammates.
“It’s almost comical to watch, because you think he runs on batteries sometimes,” Dustin Penner said. “He just keeps on going. You can knock him down but you can’t keep him down. He takes a lot of punishment because he gives it out. He’s been that type of leader all year, not just last game or the last series.”
Of course, Brown has done more than just eat up minutes. He’s led the Kings with seven goals and 14 points in the postseason. Brown already has three points in the first two games of their series against Phoenix.
Los Angeles Kings Captain Dustin Brown Draws Phoenix Coyotes’ ire
The Phoenix Coyotes seem intent on taking down Dustin Brown.
The Kings captain was quite the target as the Coyotes lost their composure while losing Game 2 of the Western Conference final 4-0 Tuesday night.
And the NHL may suspend Phoenix captain Shane Doan and forward Martin Hanzal following a game that featured 80 minutes in penalties and two game misconducts.
“I’m not going to worry about the discipline,” said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. “The league will take care of that. I don’t know what will happen there. But obviously being down 2-0, that’s not the results we were looking for at home. We’ve got to regroup tomorrow, go in there and try to steal a game on the road.”
Brown was slashed by Daymond Langkow on the same play when Doan was ejected from the game for boarding Trevor Lewis, leading to a game-breaking goal on a 5-on-3 power play for L.A.
Brown was slashed again by Coyotes goalie Mike Smith — on that power play. Both were sent off, Brown inexplicably for diving.
Then Brown was boarded by Hanzal in the third period. Hanzal, too, was ejected. The Kings scored on two of the power plays.
“I’ve been involved in dirtier games,” said Brown. “But I think the intensity out there and the fact we’re in the Western Conference Finals, there were some hits out there that weren’t good.
“Guys are playing hard and we capitalized on the opportunities we had.”
Kings coach Darryl Sutter didn’t think Doan’s hit on Lewis was anything other than a “hockey” hit, with Lewis in a bit of an awkward spot fighting for the puck. But he didn’t like Hanzal’s check on Brown.
“Doan’s hit, Lewis was turning back. It was more a hockey play. I don’t have a big problem with that,” said Sutter. “But the one on Brown, I don’t think the puck was even close.”
With seven goals and seven assists, Brown is leading the Kings in the playoffs.
“You never like to see anybody get hit like that,” said Carter. “Brown is a huge part of our team. They know that. He’s been our best player all playoffs. He’s a guy they’re keying on. He’s a tough guy. He can take it.”
In addition to the two game misconducts, the Coyotes took 56 minutes in penalties to the Kings’ 24. Derek Morris was called for kneeing.
“The Doan penalty is an interesting one,” said Tippett. “It’s a dangerous place. A player can’t put himself in that position either. I’m not saying it was a good hit. Anybody who’s played the game, you’re in that position, the guy is beside you, he turns his back to you, you can’t stop. You can’t stop. You know, that’s the way I saw that hit. I don’t want to comment too much on it. Obviously that was a big factor, spending that much time down 5-on-3.”
Dustin Brown Is The Most Valuable Player Of 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Remember those trade rumors that involved Dustin Brown earlier this season? He certainly does.
It’s not too often that you hear a captain’s name in trade rumors, but that’s where the Los Angeles Kings were earlier this season. At times, they looked dead in the water and performed nowhere near the level that they were expected to, after making the moves last summer that many assumed would put them over the top.
They crept into the playoffs as the no. 8 seed in the Western Conference, setting up a date with the Presidents Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks. LA cruised through that series before sweeping the second best team out West, the St. Louis Blues.
Through two games against the Phoenix Coyotes, the no. 3 seed, the Kings continue to display the fact that they are a very serious threat to win their first Stanley Cup in team history. And right in the middle of it all is Dustin Brown.
Brown isn’t one of the more widely publicized captains in the NHL, as he doesn’t put up points at a “per game” clip and he usually lets his physical play do the talking. Since the postseason has started, though, Brown has been the key piece for the Kings.
To this point, Brown has posted 14 points in 11 playoff games for Los Angeles. His four goals against Vancouver were all big, in what was a low scoring series, overall. His six points against the Blues in the second round included two goals in Game 4, which saw the elimination of the Blues.
Where Brown has really done the damage is with his physical play. Not that that’s anything new for Brown, as his 293 hits during the regular season were the second most in the league. Add that on top of the fact that he served just 53 penalty minutes all year, and you wonder why he was ever involved in trade rumors.
In just 11 games during these Stanley Cup Playoffs, Brown has 54 hits. He registered less than four hits in just one game, while going for at least six in four. That combination of the physical play, and his offensive play during the postseason, have helped him to emerge as the best player remaining in the playoffs.
Even when he’s not putting up the points, Brown is making an impact. In Game 2 against Phoenix, Brown managed to get inside the collective heads of the Coyotes, drawing some big penalties. He took a slash from Daymond Langkow, a big hack from Mike Smith to the back of the legs, and a vicious boarding hit from Martin Hanzal.
A player like Brown tends to get under the skin of the opponent, and he’s managed to do it in every round, with it becoming especially evident in Game 2. He might not be the biggest name on his own team, but he’s been the biggest performer thus far, and it’s come in every aspect of the game. If the Kings are able to continue on this roll, there’s no doubt he should be an easy Conn Smythe candidate by the time it’s all said and done.
Dustin Brown Grows Into Star in L.A
Come with me now to the 2003 National Hockey League draft.
No! It’s too painful. We don’t want to go there. You promised us a visit to the periodontist.
C’mon, cowboy up. Together, we can do this. It will only hurt a bit; and as some of the kinkier personal ads suggest, a little playful pain can be fun.
Tell you what: if it gets to be too much, just use the safe word: “Kostitsyn!”
The draft was held June 21, 2003 at what is now the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. That year was notable for the depth of the talent pool. Three of its first-rounders – Dustin Brown, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter – are together on the hottest team in the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Kings will try to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal Tuesday night in Phoenix (TSN, RDS). The Kings, who finished eighth during the regular season, are 9-1 in the playoffs and have won six straight games on the road.
If you blew off Game of Thrones and Mad Men to watch the series opener Sunday night, you had to love the play of Brown. The Kings captain assisted on the Anze Kopitar goal that opened the scoring and then took a sweet pass from Slava Voynov to beat Mike Smith and break a 2-2 tie in the third period.
In a performance that has thrust his name into Conn Smythe Trophy discussions, Brown registered seven shots on goal, six hits and several unwelcome visits to Smith’s kitchen. Ever since February, when there were rumours L.A. might deal him at the trade deadline, Brown has played like his hair is on fire. His line – with Kopitar and Justin Williams (pause here to recall that dastardly stick to Saku Koivu’s eye) – dominated the Coyotes every time they were on the ice.
Now the painful part. Take a deep breath and steel yourself:
Los Angeles selected Brown, a native of Ithaca, N.Y., who played junior hockey for Guelph in the OHL, with the 13th pick of the 2003 draft. This was two picks after Carter, who was drafted by Philadelphia, and three picks after the Canadiens used the 10th overall first-rounder to draft Andrei Kostitsyn.
Richards went to the Flyers with the 24th pick. He and Carter were traded – the latter to Columbus – the day before last summer’s draft as Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren sought to tweak his team, exorcise demons in the Flyers’ room and advance the process of making Claude Giroux the alpha dog in Philly.
The jury is still out on Holmgren’s moves. Yes, Richards and Carter may get their names on the Cup. But Philadelphia acquired Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and a second-round draft choice next month for Richards; while the Carter deal brought Jakub Voracek and Columbus’s 2011 firstrounder, which Holmgren used to draft Sean Couturier.
The jury has been in for a while on your Montreal Canadiens in the 2003 draft. The verdict is they were guilty of soiling the linen, big-time.
Kostitsyn would have to become a 40-goal scorer for Nashville – and recent history makes that improbable – to be considered anything but a wasted draft pick. In addition to Brown, Carter and Richards, the list of players available when the Canadiens exercised their pick includes Zach Parise (how, in the holy name of Lou Lamoriello, did 16 teams pass on him?), Brent Seabrook, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Brent Burns and Corey Perry.
Heck, based on the last nine years you can make a case that Mark Stuart (21st overall to Boston) and Brian Boyle (26th, to L.A.) would have been better picks than Kostitsyn. Loui Eriksson, Patrice Bergeron, Shea Weber and David Backes went in the second round.
On the scale of mistakes, wasting a first-round pick on Kostitsyn ranks somewhere between wearing white after Labour Day and invading Russia during winter.
Drafting, in all professional sports, is an inexact science.
Some drafts, however, are less of a crap shoot than others. In football and basketball, the NFL and NBA, respectively, teams are selecting young men who have honed their talents in competition that is one rung below the pros.
Hockey and, to an even greater degree, baseball are different. Amateur scouts in those sports have to project how good a teenager will be when he’s a 21-year-old professional athlete.
One of the best scenes in Moneyball, the excellent movie adaptation of Michael Lewis’s bestseller (published the year Kostitsyn was drafted, BTW), is a flashback to the courtship of Billy Beane. A New York Mets scout assures Beane’s parents their son is a rare five-tool baseball talent and a can’t-miss pro prospect. Bean took the Mets’ bonus money and passed up a scholarship to Stanford.
The rest is unhappy history. Beane was a bust and became a major-league general manager who didn’t trust his scouts.
Pierre Gauthier isn’t always wrong about everything. The Canadiens’ former general manager has said the NHL draft starts its second round, with all the guess work that entails, after the first 10 to 15 picks.
Brown scored 34 goals and added 42 assists during his draft season with Guelph. He had 89 minutes in penalties, a total Brown has never matched in the NHL, despite his über-physical style of play.
Andrei Kostitsyn scored 17 goals at all levels in 2002-03. His draft season was curtailed by an illness that supposedly scared off some NHL teams, and the Canadiens thought they were getting a steal by drafting Kostitsyn 10th overall.
It didn’t work out that way. And 2003 wasn’t the only draft that’s been second-guessed by Canadiens fans.
In 2006, the team used the 20th pick of the first round to draft David Fischer, who has never played a game in the NHL. Two picks later, Philadelphia drafted Giroux.
The Canadiens’ talent evaluators were on their game, however, a year later. Using the 12th pick of the first round, they selected a player who, like Fischer, was a highschool defenceman voted Mr. Hockey in Minnesota:
Ryan McDonagh.
Go ahead, scream the safe word.
Brown Out: Dustin Delivers For Kings In Desert
Just because most folks may not be familiar with seeing the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference Finals, doesn’t mean the Pacific Division foes aren’t. Which is a good thing, as familiarity tends to breed contempt. Another phrase to describe these two clubs, relentless. That was a major theme of Game One in the desert.
Much of the first frame saw Los Angeles setting the tone by finishing their checks and out-shooting Phoenix in the early going. It wasn’t until around the 13 minute mark that the Coyotes actually registered a shot. Although a couple of things ran contrary to conventional wisdom. The first being that the Kings didn’t show any letdown on offense, even though Mike Smith continually stymied them despite getting peppered. On the opposite end, Jonathan Quick was actually hurt by not getting into an early rhythm.
In that first, the Kings struck first. Anze Kopitar swooped in and took a back pass from Dustin Brown. Kopitar backhanded the puck past a screened Smith and notched his fourth of the playoffs.
Although L.A. out-shot Phoenix by a count of 17-4 in the first, Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris made his count with a boom. Morris from near the red line, drilled one by an unsuspecting Quick and knotted the contest at one. It was quite the impressive blast from center ice and for Morris, its second tally of these playoffs.
During the second the Kings went back to their transition game and it paid dividends. Dwight King started the breakout off the boards and was handsomely rewarded. That allowed Mike Richards to spring loose down the ice, with King jumping into the play. Richards shot one off the right pad of Smith and King followed up by burying the fat rebound for his second of the post-season and the second L.A. marker. Again the Kings getting contributions from every line.
However the resilient Coyotes would jump on a Kings miscue late in the period. Quick, playing the puck behind the net to Drew Doughty, set the puck a little too still behind the cage. That allowed Antoine Vermette to jump in and jar the puck loose to Shane Doan, who in turn fed Mikkel Boedker for his fourth of the playoffs, tying the game once again.
Yet Los Angeles would respond early in the third. As he did in the first two round, captain Brown would make a major impact once again. Off a beautiful down ice head man pass from Slava Voynov, Brown burst through, virtually uncontested and bested Smith for his seventh tally of the playoffs and the eventual winner.
Hostilities continued to ramp up and King buried an empty netter for good measure, making it a 4-2 final. Hence, Los Angeles grabs a 1-0 series lead and improves its flawless post-season road mark to 6-0.
Three Stars: My three stars for this one, 1.) Dustin Brown (1-1-2) GWG, 2.) Mike Smith (44 SVS), 3.) Dwight King (2-0-2).
Dustin Brown Keeps Los Angeles Kings Sizzling in 4-2 Win Over Coyotes
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Slowly, but surely, Kings captain Dustin Brown is edging toward the promised land, the place almost no one thought he might reach.
Inching toward awesome.
That means getting called “awesome,” or being described that way by Kings Coach Darryl Sutter, who holds that deep in reserve for his highest level of praise.
The Kings won the opener of the Western Conference finals, beating Phoenix, 4-2, at Jobing.com Arena on Sunday night, giving them six consecutive road playoff wins and leaving them three wins away from a spot in the Stanley Cup finals.
After Brown scored the game-winner to make it 3-2 early in the third period off a slick lead pass from defenseman Slava Voynov, assisted on the first goal and essentially badgered the Coyotes‘ defense all night, Sutter moved in the direction of the word awesome. Who knows, he might have used it had Brown not taken a retaliatory penalty in the first period.
“You know what, the playoffs have been something for him that he’s taken the next step, right?” Sutter said of Brown, who has a team-leading seven goals and 13 points in the postseason. “That’s the key to it. Right now he’s a playoff-type player because of the game, it’s the way you have to play at playoff times.
“You think about the intensity, the controlled emotion. Probably if you said tonight he’d like to have the penalty back in the first period … he certainly covered his butt good by scoring the game-winner.”
Brown was not the only Kings player to adequately perform that activity. Goalie Jonathan Quick survived a rare lapse in the first period, giving up a stunning 98-footer from the red line by Coyotes veteran defenseman Derek Morris, who tied it 1-1, at 13 minutes 26 seconds.
The Coyotes did not have a shot on goal until nearly seven minutes into the game, and the first one was remarkably unthreatening. That, and a week off between games, may have cut into Quick’s usual alertness, and a highlight gaffe was born a few minutes later.
“He hasn’t seen action in probably 10 minutes of the first period, maybe it was a little rusty,” said the Kings’ Anze Kopitar, who opened the scoring at 3:53 with a nifty backhander from between the circles.
“Sometimes that’s the way the bounces go. He rebounded really well after that and he bailed us out a few times in the third.”
Kopitar did some thinking and addition regarding the regular season and the playoffs and issued a verdict.
“Eighty-two, plus 10, that’s 92 [games],” he said. “We should be able to bail him out a couple of times.”
The Kings’ rescue squad included a flawless penalty-killing unit and rookie Dwight King, who scored twice, the second an empty-netter. King’s first goal, at 8:02 of the second period, came on a two-on-one with Mike Richards as he converted a rebound of the initial shot from Richards, putting it past Coyotes goalie Mike Smith to make it 2-1.
“We had a lot of shots, a lot of traffic,” Brown said after the Kings had a season-high 48 shots. “They’re going to get chances. That’s part of the game. We just got to keep on making it hard on Smith. The longer they play in their D-zone, the more tired they’re going to get. Over the course of the series, that’s going to be to our advantage.”
Brown’s line operated at a high level from its opening shift. Phoenix had no answers for Brown, Kopitar and Justin Williams on the ice or afterward.
“I’m worried about our team,” said Phoenix Coach Dave Tippett. “We got players that I have to worry about getting playing better, not worry about Kopitar.”
Kopitar has points in four consecutive games, and Brown’s consistency been remarkable in the playoffs, including the latest surge of eight points in the last five games.
“I’ve seen him play like that,” Kopitar said. “This is obviously a big stretch he is putting together right now. There were spurts during the six years that I’ve seen him play like that.
“He’s playing like that at the right time.”
Said Kings center Jarret Stoll: “He doesn’t say all the rah-rah stuff sometimes, but he definitely speaks on the ice.”
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Kings Take Game 1 with 4-2 Win
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Even a week off couldn’t cool the red-hot Los Angeles Kings. They’re three wins away from the Stanley Cup Final.
The Kings came out strong with a relentless forecheck that continued throughout the game. They fired 48 shots on net and got goals from Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and two from Dwight King along with 25 saves from goalie Jonathan Quick to beat the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, 4-2, at Jobing.com Arena on Sunday night.
Los Angeles is now 9-1 in the playoffs and has won six games in a row on the road. The Kings will go for No. 7 in Game 2 Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS).
“You know the Coyotes have won both games at home prior series, right?” Kings coach Darryl Sutter asked rhetorically, citing that the Coyotes were victories in Game 1 against Chicago and again against Nashville at Jobing.com Arena. “It was really important we had a good start. It wasn’t so much scoring or any of that stuff. Just make sure we match their start.
“We were able to overcome a rare bad goal against us, have the resiliency to stay with it.”
Sutter is correct, the Kings did have to rebound after Quick was beat on a 98-foot slap shot by Derek Morris 13:26 into the first period. Morris wound up and fired from directly in front of the red line and the puck skimmed off the ice and sailed over Quick’s outstretched right pad to tie the game at 1-1.
Los Angeles had a 17-4 advantage in shots on goal after 20 minutes, but the game was locked in a tie.
“It skipped off the ice, took a weird hop, and nothing you can do about it,” Quick said. “You just reset and get ready for the next shot, that’s all it is.”
Quick’s teammates knew it was a tough one for their goalie to give up, but it only made them want to play that much harder for him.
“I think we just felt we have to get a couple for Quickie,” Kopitar said. “He was bailing us out all season and a few times in the playoffs, too. I don’t think anybody was concerned or worried about it; we just kind of looked at each other and said maybe we should win this one for him.”
They did, thanks to their captain. Brown gave the Kings their 3-2 lead with 17:49 left in the third period.
Brown, who now has seven goals in 10 playoff games, was sprung on a semi-breakaway by defenseman Slava Voynov. He made a fantastic pass from out of the defensive zone to catch Brown in the neutral zone. He skated into the right circle and put a wrist shot past Mike Smith on the blocker side.
“That was a great pass by Slava,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “I think everyone knows he has that vision offensively to do those kinds of things. Right away he saw Brownie before he even got the puck, and from there he made a great pass and Brownie finished it off from there.”
Sutter said Brown has become a playoff hockey player in this postseason. He also had an assist on Kopitar’s goal 3:53 into the first period and now has 13 points in the playoffs.
“He’d like to have the penalty back in the first period,” Sutter said, referring to Brown’s interference minor behind the play with 18.3 seconds left in the first period. “He certainly covered his butt good by scoring the game-winner.”
The Kings dominated most of the night with a constant, aggressive forecheck that had the Coyotes hemmed in their own zone. They also continued to play with perfection on the penalty kill, which was 5-for-5 and allowed only four shots on goal. Los Angeles has killed off 24 straight power plays dating back to Game 5 against Vancouver.
“We weren’t close in that game,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. “We got beat in every facet of the game.
“I felt our execution was so poor. The execution and will to get things done is going to have to improve greatly if we’re going to have a chance in this series.”
About the only player Tippett couldn’t be angry with was Smith, who never let the Kings take a two-goal lead before Kings’ empty-net goal with 48 seconds left. He made 44 saves.
The Kings beat Smith on a backhanded shot by Kopitar from the high slot in the first period, a King shot off a rebound created on a 2-on-1 rush with Mike Richards in the second, and on Brown’s wrist shot from the right circle off a semi-breakaway in the third.
“He’s not going to save every one, eventually a few will get by him and that’s what happened tonight,” Doughty said. “It just shows you the more shots you get on net the more he’s going to let in.”
Phoenix has been outshot in 10 of its 12 playoff games and has given up 45 or more shots three times. It is 1-2 in those games.
“As the playoffs go on, the bar gets higher and higher,” Tippett said. “You have some players that can rise with the bar and we didn’t have enough guys rise with the bar tonight.”
However, despite getting outshot 34-18 through two periods, the Coyotes still managed to head into the dressing room tied 2-2 after 40 minutes. Morris’ blast from the red line beat Quick in the first period and Mikkel Boedker cashed in on his fourth goal of the playoffs with 1:55 left in the second period as the Coyotes came back from a pair of one-goal deficits in each period.
“We started to generate some stuff in the second period a little better,” Coyotes center Antoine Vermette said.
Los Angeles, though, was relentless again in the third and got some big saves from Quick late to preserve the one-goal lead before King’s empty-netter.
“Right before the game Darryl made sure to tell us the first five minutes are so important, we need to be the fastest team, the hardest working team, we want them not to want to play us,” Doughty said. “I thought we did a good job of that.”
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter: @drosennhl
Kings’ Brown Scores Another Game-Winning Goal
GLENDALE, Ariz. — As soon as he heard the question being asked in the direction of teammate Jarret Stoll, Kings captain Dustin Brown looked down and started adjusting his cuff links and playing with the sleeves on his dress shirt. It was almost as if Brown was embarrassed that the conversation was again about him after a playoff game.
He should be used to it by now.
Brown scored the winning goal Sunday night for the second straight game and third time in the playoffs. He now has seven goals and six assists in 10 playoff games. His team is 9-1 and three wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final after beating Phoenix, 4-2, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final at Jobing.com Arena.
Brown had only seven points in his previous 12 playoff games over the last two years, but he’s been a huge difference maker this spring.
“He’s an all right player, yeah,” Stoll said with sarcasm dripping everywhere as Brown fidgeted around in the seat next to him. “He’s doing it all for us; both ends of the rink, too. Not just offensively — which is nice — but coming back defensively, being physical, leading by example.”
Brown’s goal 2:11 into the third period was the difference Sunday. He got open in the neutral zone and received a brilliant pass out of the defensive zone by Slava Voynov that sent him in on a semi-breakaway. Brown finished it off by rifling a blocker-side wrist shot past Phoenix goalie Mike Smith from the right circle.
“It was a good play by Brownie,” Voynov said. “He had open ice and I saw him.”
Brown also made the play to create the Kings’ first goal 3:53 into the game. He got the puck deep into the left circle before dropping it back to Anze Kopitar, who took it into the high slot and used his backhand to roof a shot past Smith on the glove side.
Kopitar, who has been teammates with Brown for six seasons in Los Angeles, said the captain has never played any better than he is in this postseason.
“He realizes that we need him to play like that in order to be successful and right now he’s clicking on the ice, making plays,” Kopitar said. “He’s scoring the big goals and that’s what good captains and good leaders do.”
Drew Doughty, a teammate of Brown’s for the last four years since being the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, agreed with Kopitar.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Doughty said. “He’s taking the body, sacrificing the body, blocking shots; he’s doing every little thing on the ice and that’s why he’s getting credited with all these points. He’s doing all the little things right and when you do that and play good defensive hockey, good things are going to come to you offensively.”
Brown did have a minor hiccup late the first period when he was called for interfering with Phoenix defenseman Michal Rozsival well behind the play. The Kings killed off the penalty that bled into the second period, but coach Darryl Sutter said he knows Brown wanted to take the play back.
He couldn’t, but he since the Kings killed off the penalty and Brown scored the winning goal all was forgiven.
“The playoffs have been something for him that he’s taken the next step,” Sutter said. “That’s the key to it. Right now he’s a playoff-type player because the game, it’s the way you have to play at playoff times. You think about the intensity, the controlled emotion.”
Brown has it all going for him now. He probably should get used to the spotlight.
“He doesn’t say all the rah-rah stuff sometimes,” Stoll said with Brown finally looking ahead, his cuff links in order, “but he definitely speaks on the ice.”
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter: @drosennhl
Los Angeles Kings’ Dustin Brown: Two Jerseys Better Than One
Three youngsters around the house — all of them boys — so it’s no surprise that the parents have ways of finding solutions to problems.
Mason Brown, the young son of Kings captain Dustin Brown, has a comforting toy of his own: A Kings jersey.
In fact, the 3-year-old has taken to wearing it all the time the last couple of weeks, including to school.
So what to do? Take the jersey, put it in the laundry and risk some tears?
Brown chuckled about finding an acceptable solution.
“Still going. We actually have two jerseys — so it’s on rotation,” Brown said after the Kings’ practice Saturday. “Two white ones.”
Too bad that won’t show any dirt.
Coyotes, Kings Feed Off Captains’ Emotional Investment
The Los Angeles vs. Phoenix Coyotes Western Conference final is being cast as a goaltending series because Jonathan Quick and Mike Smith have the league’s best postseason goalie numbers.
But there’s could also be a captains series because Phoenix’s Shane Doan and Los Angeles’ Dustin Brown both have the ability to rally their teams with passion and physical play.
“Playoffs are as much about emotional investment as anything,” said former Calgary Flames general manager Craig Button. “Both Shane Doan and Dustin Brown embody this characteristic.”
Heading into Sunday’s series opener (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network) Doan is fourth in the NHL in postseason hits with 48 in 11 games, and Dustin Brown is tied for eighth with 38 in nine games. That means Doan delivers 4.36 hits a game and Brown is at 4.22.
“Following the lead of players such as these becomes the norm in the playoffs,” Button said. “If you don’t get deeply invested in the playoffs from an emotional perspective, you are destined to be on the sidelines.”
Brown and Doan wear on the opposition with their tenacity and relentlessness.
“Both are amazingly strong on the forecheck,” said NBC analyst Pierre McGuire. “They also have the ability to finish plays off so they are multi-dimensional offensive weapons.”
Doan is 35 and inching closer to the end of his career, and Brown is 27 and in his prime. But they are very similar in style and character. They are both 50- to 60-point players. They both registered 22 goals this season. Doan had 28 assists, while Brown earned 32. Doan has reached the 30-goal plateau twice in his career, and the younger Brown has done it once.
“The beauty of Shane and Dustin is that they can impact the game in so many ways,” Button said. “From a physical standpoint obviously but also from an offensive and defensive standpoint as well as special teams. That expands the emotional investment to every critical area of the game.”
Brown has stepped up his offensive performance level in the postseason, currently sitting fourth among NHL playoff scorers with six goals and 11 points. Doan has three goals and six points, and the Coyotes are hoping he might pick up his scoring pace.
“(Those guys) are defined by their willingness to do whatever is necessary to help their team win,” Button said. “Think of Bob Gainey, Bob Clarke on a high level as well as the greatest, Mark Messier. It all began with their emotional investment and then their level of skill dictated the rest.”
Although Brown can’t match Jarome Iginla‘s offensive might, Kings coach Darryl Sutter said “in terms of personality and character,” Brown is similar to Iginla.
Brown says he studied Iginla when he first came to the NHL.
“He was one of those guys that I looked and watched how he played the game because he led by example on the ice,” Brown said. “I think that’s probably the best way to do it.”
Over the years, Brown’s game has matured.
“When I first came into the league, I did what it took to make an impression — a lot of that was being physical,” Brown said. “That’s part of my game now. I think it’s just a little more even-keeled. I don’t think you’ll see me running too far out of position and make a big hit. I’ll let it come to me. The flip side of that is I’m in a better position to maybe get a chance offensively.”
Doan is the face of the Coyotes, having been with the team since its days in Winnipeg. He has been a steadying influence on his teammates, particularly when they had to weather the turmoil of bankruptcy and the threat of seeing the franchise moved elsewhere.
“Shane is one of those guys that leads by example,” Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. “He’s one of the hardest-working players you’re going to find in practice. He goes into every game with preparation and detail into every game is at the forefront of what you want any captain to be. You take the hockey side of it as well as who he is as a person and how he lives his life. He’s just a stand-up guy. Every teammate will tell you is a wonderful person.”
When the Coyotes downed the Chicago Blackhawks to win a playoff series for the first time since the franchise moved to Phoenix, some teammates seemed more happy for Doan than for themselves. After the Coyotes defeated Chicago in the first round, Doan almost didn’t know how to act in the handshake line.
“It was nice to be on the other end of people wishing you luck and to encourage you to keep going,” Doan said. “It was nice to be on that end instead of the other way around.”
Doan will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Coyotes certainly will want him back. The question will be at what price and for how many years? Will a team make an offer that Phoenix can’t/wont match? He is obviously not thinking about his contract now. But Phoenix fans have to consider whether Doan’s first true run for a Stanley Cup in a Coyotes’ uniform could also be his last.
There are no guarantees in the NHL. Brown is much younger than Doan, and he understands that because his name was mentioned often in trade rumors at last February’s deadline.
“Around that time of year, it happens,” Brown said. “It was probably a little more serious, it seemed like because of the media coverage on it this year. But it was no different me coming to the rink. I prepared to be my best — just like I would any other time.”
It’s the kind of attitude you would expect from Brown. Or Doan.
Said McGuire: “Both players are tremendous leaders who sacrifice personal stats for team success.”
