Brown walks away with `head held high'
EL SEGUNDO » For 18 seasons, Kings winger Dustin Brown spoke softly to the world while his body checks resonated at a thunderous volume on the ice.
On Friday, the NHL’s alltime leader in hits talked candidly, playfully, graciously and even tearfully as he formally announced his retirement — at the end of the playoffs — at the team’s training complex. His wife and four children were at his side while his teammates sat behind them during the nearly 30-minute news conference.
The Kings concluded the regular season with 99 points, tied for the sixthbest total in franchise history, with a 3-2 overtime loss in Vancouver on Thursday, the evening after Brown broke the news of his retirement to the entire team and the public. Brown, who captained the team for eight seasons, including the only two Stanley Cup-winning campaigns (2012 and 2014) since the club’s inception in 1967, wore the captain’s “C” once again, courtesy of current captain and close friend Anze Kopitar.
After a franchise-record 1,296 regular-season games 85 playoff game and 3,632 hits, the 37-year-old Brown will join the Kings for one more postseason ride when they begin their best-of-7 first-round series at Edmonton on Monday.
“Wherever the coming weeks take us, I can end my career playing games that matter,” Brown said. “I can walk away knowing I did my best and that the Kings are in a better spot than when I
The Kings’ Dustin Brown announced that he is going to retire after the playoffs end this season.
first arrived.”
“I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and I can walk away with my head held high,” he added.
Brown joined the organization so long ago — he was drafted in 2003 — that GM Rob Blake and Kings team president Luc Robitaille were both still active players and were teammates of Brown’s for two seasons.
“As far as importance to the organization, I’m not sure there’s anybody that has been more important. To be able to be a captain of the team that you’re drafted by, developed by, and to celebrate two Stanley Cups, and to decide on your own when it was time to go out, it’s special,” Blake said. “It’s kind of fitting, you see his family with him first and he’s got his teammates behind him, that’s kind of the way he’s gone about being an L.A. King, so good for him.”
Brown was also welcomed to the organization by defenseman Mattias Norstrom and winger Ian Laperriere, whom he credited with shaping his hardnosed, indefatigable style of play. They also instilled in
him a desire to extend that attitude throughout the organization and transform the Kings from a novelty to a marquee attraction in the NHL, which he did with the help of a host of contributors brought in by ex-GMs Dave Taylor and Dean Lombardi.
“We took what it meant to be a King to new levels, to a new standard,” Brown said. “As my time has been winding down, it has been my greatest pleasure to share that with the next generation.”
“There’s still work to be done and after today that will be our focus. But for me, it’s time to pass the torch,” he added.
Brown was reviled in Western Conference cities.
In the first round of the playoffs in 2021, the Kings stunned the defending conference champion Canucks, thanks to Brown’s timely scoring and crushing hits.
“If I look back at every series, I could pinpoint one or two or three things that were Brownie moments,” former Kings center Jarret Stoll said. “Game 1 in Vancouver, huge goal, Game 2 in Vancouver, two shorthanded goals, Game 3 here in L.A., huge hit on Henrik Sedin. I could go on and on.”
A short while ago, Brown was not so sure he’d reach the point where he is now, healthy and headed to the playoffs. Not only did the Kings not clinch a playoff berth until after they had completed 80 of 82 scheduled games, but Brown sustained a grisly finger injury in March that required emergency surgery.
“I was missing the tip of my finger. My finger was gone, so I was pretty nervous that night that maybe I had played my last game.” Brown said. “I was lucky enough to heal pretty quickly and get back into it.”
Brown has been no stranger to injury, having absorbed roughly as much punishment as he meted out. Among other bumps, bruises, strains, pulls, tears and breaks, an ostensibly harmless collision in the 2013 playoffs injured his knee, but he played through it in the conference finals. During the 82-game grind and a three-year stretch from 2012-14 in which the Kings played in 11 of a possible 12 playoff rounds, Brown could have earned endorsements for ice packs, bandages and every other sort of known treatment to stay in the lineup.
“You’ve got to play through a lot of hurt, a lot of injuries and a lot of anguish to win. It’s tough, it’s not easy and that’s why not very many people do it,” Stoll said. “Brownie’s the perfect example. How many years in a row did he lead the league in hits? The style of game that he played for almost 1,300 games is pretty crazy.”
RANGERS 3, CAPITALS 2 » Dryden Hunt scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, Alexandar Georgiev made 34 saves and New York downed Washington.
The Capitals’ loss means they will go into the playoffs as the East’s second wild card, and will match up with the Florida Panthers.
Defensemen Justin Schultz and John Carlson scored for Washington, which finished with a leaguebest road record of 25-10-6.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, BRUINS 2 » William Nylander scored twice and Toronto beat Boston with both teams resting most of their stars.
The Maple Leafs ensured they will face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, while the Bruins are set to meet the Carolina Hurricanes.
Toronto finished 54-21-7 for 115 points, 10 more than the previous franchise record set in 2017-18.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 7, BLUES 4 » Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist, leading Vegas over St. Louis.
The Blues, who finished third in the Central Division, will open the postseason at second-place Minnesota.
WILD 4, AVALANCHE 1 » Jordan Greenway scored twice and Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and Minnesota beat Colorado.
CANADIENS 10, PANTHERS 2 » Cole Caufield had his first
NHL hat trick and Montreal routed Presidents’ Trophy champion Florida.
Carey Price made 37 saves in his 700th career start for his first win of the season. LIGHTNING 6, ISLANDERS 4 » Steven Stamkos scored three goals for his first hat trick of the season as twotime defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay secured third place in the Atlantic Division.
Corey Perry, Ryan McDonagh and Brandon Hagel also scored for Tampa Bay, which trailed by two before scoring five times in the third period.
Zdeno Chara had a goal for the Islanders. The 45-year-old defenseman, received a standing ovation from the crowd and his teammates in what could be his final NHL game.