NHL99 - Drew Doughtys fearless, tireless, fiery style created a legacy in LA

Last updated Nov 13, 2022 Edit Source

• News post

• Eric Stephens

Welcome to NHL99, The Athletic’s countdown of the best 100 players in modern NHL history. We’re ranking 100 players but calling it 99 because we all know who’s No. 1 — it’s the 99 spots behind No. 99 we have to figure out. Every Monday through Saturday until February we’ll unveil new members of the list. Number 73 - Drew Doughty To begin defining Drew Doughty, Dean Lombardi doesn’t get into the countless hip checks or blocked shots that require the willingness to put his body on the line. Nor does he describe the way Doughty can split defenders and score as a defenseman, or list Doughty’s big moments, which one day will lead to the Los Angeles Kings retiring his No. 8 jersey.

• Drew Doughty
• Anze Kopitar
• Tyler Toffoli
• Dustin Brown

• Dean Lombardi
• Ron Hextall
• Luc Robitaille
• Todd McLellan
• Darryl Sutter

# Dean Lombardi

Early on, it’s too much. Because you make a mistake as a defenseman, it’s in your net and you can lose your confidence in a heartbeat. We’re playing Colorado. He turns over a puck and Ryan Smyth scores. I remember it like it was yesterday. I turned to Hexy and go, ‘Now we’re going to find out what we really got here.’ Because kids that turn over that puck and it’s in (the net), it’s your fault. He made a gaffe. And they’ll go two weeks or a month before they want that puck again. Right? Because they just got exposed. (Later), the puck comes back to him. He drives. He has no business going through center ice because it’s still crowded. And he goes in. Before you know it, he splits that whole crap that’s in the center, goes in, beats the defenseman and scores right after turning the puck over. And I just go, ‘Holy smoke!’

It’s like a young quarterback that’s thrown an interception. All of a sudden, it’s a gong show. But that kid? When you talk about him and his talent, there’s a competitiveness, a will to win, a drive to win and no fear. He’s just special. He’s generational. If he had played in New York or Philadelphia or Boston, they would be talking about him being one of the top 10 ever. No doubt in my mind.

We go to the rink and sit at the end. I want to make sure I’m behind where he’s playing defense. I’m sitting there, I got my pen and paper. He comes out for one shift and I go, ‘What the hell is that?’ He makes a couple plays where he’s looking guys off. His puck’s in his hip pocket. He understands angles. And I think it was about the fourth shift in, he comes around the back of the net — he kind of uses the net to lose a guy — and then he comes up the rink. It’s not a highlight film. It’s all about angles. One guy came at him, and he gives this little juke and he’s gone. I’m sitting next to Futes and said, ‘All right, forget it. Put the pen down. I don’t need to write a damn thing down. I’m just going to sit here and watch this guy.’

He had one shift where he got off the ice at one end of the bench and by the time he walked to the other end of the bench, he came right back out. I go, ‘What the hell is this?’

I mean, he was fat. He just had no definition on his body.

# Luc Robitaille

Because we needed the key defenseman. The 30-minute defenseman to help us win. We were lucky at the time that we landed him.

# Todd McLellan

He does not waste energy. He’s not a busy player. He’ll join (the rush) when he needs to join. He’s positioned well to retrieve pucks and get to them. Sometimes you see players that their foot’s on the gas pedal no matter what they’re doing and it’s exhausting for them. Drew can manage his shift knowing when to use the gas and the brake. And that allows him to play more.

# Drew Doughty

I don’t think I consciously changed anything. I always work hard in the summers to try to keep my speed up. I don’t feel fast out there compared to the other guys, to be honest. I feel like I’m in the middle of the pack whereas before I felt maybe a little bit above the middle. But I don’t think I’m doing anything differently.

I’m a very competitive person. That’s my favorite part about the game — the competition. But I just try to keep everyone light. There’s times where I’m frickin’ losing it too. I’m an emotional person. I’m not always happy. It might appear that way. But there are times when I’m losing it. That’s just because I care so much about winning and I care about all our players and performing well.

I love playing this game. There’s nothing more I love than coming to the rink and hanging out with guys. It’s been a part of my whole life basically. Hockey is my first love. You can’t take being in the NHL for granted and I never have. I come every day trying to enjoy being here and I do genuinely just enjoy being here. Enjoy having fun playing hockey.

# Darryl Sutter

[Chris Chelios and Drew Doughty are] two of the best defensemen in the history of the game [that he’s coached].

Loves the game. Love everything about it. You threw a puck out on the ice, he’d go play all day.

Every time we would golf together, how angry he would get if he missed a putt or hit a bad shot.

Drew got the puck at the blue line, put it between his legs and scored on (Henrik) Lundqvist. I think that just kind of showed how competitive he is. He got beat. They scored. The next period, he didn’t let it fluster him and he went and got the goal back.

# Anze Kopitar

He is most definitely his own man and he’ll speak his mind. If it’s something that needs to be addressed, he’ll address it 100 percent. But never have I ever seen him in 15 years put himself ahead of the team. Not one time. That speaks volumes.

He just turns to me and he’s like, ‘Can you imagine if we were lions and we got up after 20 hours?’. I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘Imagine if we got up and we’re like, ‘Ah, man, I didn’t sleep very good.’ I just turned to him and go, ‘You’re a f—ing idiot.’