Dustin Brown Speaks Out

For a team that was unsurprisingly quiet on draft day, the LA Kings have been quite busy gearing up for free agency, which officially begins tomorrow. Their first big offseason move was stripping Dustin Brown of his Captaincy and handing the mantle over to Anze Kopitar, a dedicated assistant captain whose $10 million contract extension was the talk of this past season. Brown, who was the first Captain in LA Kings history to raise the Stanley Cup, won the Mark Messier Award for leadership in 2014, when the Kings won the Stanley Cup for the second time in 3 years, has seen a decline in his play and there has been talk of attempting to move his contract in recent seasons. The circumstances surrounding the announcement was somewhat controversial, as it appeared the media heard rumors before anything was settled with Brown. He was quite candid in his remarks earlier today, saying

“It just was a process and then it leaked in the middle of that process. Quite honestly, I felt they should have addressed it then and they didn’t really do that, so it was just a very awkward and stressful two three weeks. You guys were probably sitting there writing articles and kind of guessing, because for whatever reason it was leaked and never addressed. When they did address it, it was the announcement of Kopi, and that’s part of the reason I didn’t want to make myself available that day. I remember the day I was named captain. It was under different circumstances. But I felt that day the press release came out, that day was Kopi’s day. It’s a pretty big honor and a pretty big day for him personally, and I wanted him to have the spotlight. I didn’t want to be answering these types of questions on a day when it should be about the new guy. That’s part of the problem I’ve had with this whole situation.”

There certainly were a lot of questions circling about how Brown would handle the situation. He made it clear that any problems he did have with the decision was a reflection on management, and not the players. “It was a tough pill to swallow,” Brown said. “There are a lot of emotions that go through it, but at the end of the day, it was really out of my control because this is a management decision, not the players voting on it or anything like that. Quite honest, it would’ve been a lot harder had it been my teammates doing this.”

“Ultimately, I understand the decision and I respect the decision. Part of my problem was how it was handled. It just put me in an awkward spot. Not taking the C away, because like I said, hey, that’s their decision. We were in the middle of a process – I just didn’t think it was handled very well, considering it leaked. I’m pretty sure my wife and my friends don’t have people’s numbers to leak it to and they wouldn’t leak it, so it was just disappointing how that unfolded from my perspective. We were kind of going through the process of figuring it out. It wasn’t like a 15-minute meeting, and then that was it.”

In fact there were several meetings leading up to the official announcement, including one with head coach Daryl Sutter Brown said “probably should have happened a year ago. … to clear some of the air between me and Darryl.” He went on to say “I think we both want the same thing and have probably looked at it in different ways, so I think it was just a meeting that needed to happen for us to move forward,” he said. “Part of it was about what my role is, but a lot of it was about stuff that just needed to be addressed, so that’s what it was for, and I think it probably helped both sides.”

“At the end of the day, the conversation just allowed me and Darryl to get on the same page – where I was coming from, where he was coming from. In regards to my roles, that’s really his call. Like I said, I’m a player, he’s a coach. I don’t control the type of role I’m in. It’s just my job to do whatever I’m assigned to the best of my ability. I think the meeting was more to just air some things out and move on, because it was just one of those things where we needed to reconnect, and probably I needed to hear some things from him, and he needed to hear some things from me, and that’s what kind of happened.”

Brown recognized that the organization has been through a lot in recent years. From 2 Cups in 3 years to crashing the past two postseasons, he accepts that some things will have to change for the club to get back to it’s success. Still, he didn’t foresee this particular change.

“Did I ever see this coming? I mean, not really. I mean, I think I’ve done very well in this position. We’ve struggled the last couple years, but I think that’s a byproduct of a lot of things. In saying that, I don’t think this one change represents what needs to happen for us to be successful, but like I said, management felt this was one of the things that needed to change. I can’t say I agree with it, honestly. In saying that, I think Kopi’s going to be a great captain. I’ve been locker and stallmates with him since he came into this league, and he’ll be fine in this situation, and I have all the faith in the world in Kopi in being the guy now. But from my perspective, I wasn’t happy with this decision. Again, I’m a player, and these are decisions for management to make, and we’ll see where it goes.”

With so much controversy, it would be easy to forget Brown’s accomplishments, and any potential future success.

“I felt like I’ve done a very good job leading this team I thought we, as a group, did a good job over the last – people look at the last couple of years and that has been very disappointing for all involved and we all have a lot of work to do to get back where we want to be. But I just remember when I was named captain where we were at as a team. I mean, it was not a pretty picture, so what I’ve been able to accomplish with the help of a lot of my teammates has been pretty great, and I felt I’m still able to do that. I’m not 37 and on my way out. That’s the way I see it. I’m a good hockey player. I’ve got to get back to playing good hockey. I guess that’s my attitude now, is it’s no longer my responsibility to burden the responsibly of the C. That’s not to say I don’t think I can still do it. Kopi will do a great job.”

In a conference call with Kings GM Dean Lombardi, he looked to Brown’s future with the club. “His focus so critically has to be on his game, and I think there is some merit to that,” Lombardi said last month. “The most important thing in our discussion, and having met with our assistant coaches, was that he’s ready to buy in, so to speak, to micromanaging his game, because there’s no question he works, there’s no question he shows up physically prepared.”

Brown himself was one of his harshest critics, recognizing his decline in play and taking the physical steps to correct.

“I think there’s a lot that goes into being a captain, and like I said, I enjoyed the responsibility, but whether I have a C on my chest or not, I’m always going to put pressure on myself to be better because I’m not OK with just being OK,” he said. “If you are, then you’re out of this league pretty quickly, and I think this is maybe them trying to get me to a place where I’m not worried about the young guys or all the stuff you kind of have to worry about a little bit more when you’re the captain, and now I can just focus on my game a little bit more is the idea. Like I said, it’s a tough pill to swallow … but it’s a decision that’s made by management. My job is to be a better hockey player.”

As of this article Brown remains on the Kings roster, unlike his other Assistant Captain Matt Greene, who was placed on waivers earlier today with either the option for a buyout, or to free up some cap space for a healthy free agent.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!