LA Kings’ Dustin Brown Just Won’t Go Away… And That is A-OK
- Updated: November 8, 2017
Career-wise, there is only one player in NHL history to have reached 3,000 career hits. That distinction belongs to No. 23 of the Los Angeles Kings, Dustin Brown.
As of Tuesday morning, Brown has 3,017 hits through 978 career games. His next closest active competition is Brooks Orpik with 2,641.
Now, before we continue, it is imperative to point out that the former Kings captain simply leads the way in recorded hits. Since this only became a recognized category in 2002, there is a debate warranted whether Brown would be leading the way all-time. After all, just thinking of who’d be up there had hits been a statistical category since the NHL’s inception in 1917 or even 1942 when the Original 6 era began. If Hits had been a statistical category from day one, Brown would be in some great company — even if he didn’t lead the way — with the likes of Wendel Clark and Terry O’Reilly just to name two. A plethora of Hall-of-Famers would also be added to the list from the late Tim Horton and Larry Robinson to Scott Stevens and Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe.
This, however, isn’t about comparing Dustin Brown to other hitters. This is simply a reminder of what Dustin Brown means to the Los Angeles Kings, and it cannot be emphasized enough.
While his physical game has garnered him plenty of praise both in Los Angeles and across the league, it should — and does, frankly — go without saying that Dustin Brown’s impact on the Kings franchise runs deeper than the hits he dishes out.
Entering this season, few gave the Kings a chance to contend and, in fairness, it was hard to blame them. After winning two Stanley Cups in three years, the silver-and-black had missed the playoffs twice in the next three seasons with a slew of hefty contracts being left on the table, including Dustin Brown’s $5.875 deal.
The 2017-18 season, though, marked a new era in Los Angeles. Out were GM Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter and in were Rob Blake and John Stevens. Still, being that the Kings elected to promote within instead of hiring from the outside caused some to wonder whether the silver-and-black made the right decision.
So far, so good.
Coming off a tough 2016-17 campaign that saw him score 14 times and register a career-low (not counting the abbreviated 2013 campaign) 190 hits, Dustin Brown has seemed to have rediscovered himself thus far.
Having averaged 12 goals over the last three seasons — while playing in no fewer than 80 games each year — Brown already has seven goals through 15 games this season. The former Kings captain was so effective in October that he was named the Kings’ Player of the Month. En route to this honor, Brown added six assists to his goals total, a plus-9 rating, oh, and 36 hits. But, Brown’s success hasn’t ended with the close of October. In fact, on Tuesday night, the Kings reignited their crosstown rivalry with the Anaheim Ducks, coming back from two two-goal deficits to win in overtime. As for Dustin Brown, he netted the equalizer before setting up Nick Shore for the game-winner to cap off a thrilling victory. Not bad for a guy who some thought should have moved on by now.
Overall this season, Brown has 40 hits and is on pace for 234 this season. Those hits may not necessarily win games for his team but they do underline the Ithaca, N.Y., native’s continual desire to make the Los Angeles Kings a better team.
There have been so many times where Dustin Brown’s days in Los Angeles appeared to be numbered, yet he persevered.
According to naysayers, Brown should have been traded late in the 2011-12 season only to have a career postseason en route to leading the Kings to their first-ever Stanley Cup crown. Similar criticism was repeated two years later but again, another Stanley Cup was won. Then, following the 2015-16 campaign, not only was Dustin Brown stripped of his captaincy but he was forced to stay after not having his aforementioned contract bought out.
No one would have blamed Brown if he had just mailed it in. To his tremendous credit, though, he didn’t.
Did he have the greatest year last season? No. Not by a long shot. But Dustin Brown, who turned 33 this past weekend, hung in there. To make matters better, after last season’s disappointing finish, the Kings are now off to their greatest start in franchise history at 11-2-2 while tying a team record for the most points accumulated through the first 14 games.
Additionally, not wearing the C anymore has not proven to be a demotion. In fact, with the Kings’ long-awaited youth movement intact, youngsters like Adrian Kempe, Alex Iafallo and Kurtis MacDermid — a physical presence in his own right — there is arguably no better leader, no better presence to have on their side than Dustin Brown. Even better, frequent lineman Anze Kopitar, who took over as captain, has also been rebounding nicely this season.
Last year, Kopitar scored a career-low 12 goals. So far this year, the Slovenian already has eight. As for the captaincy, if there is any awkwardness between Kopitar and Brown, they do conceal it very well when they’re on the ice together. After all, Brown’s resiliency, his resolve, despite losing his captaincy underlines the veteran’s consummate professionalism, his willingness to put the team before himself. In a day and age where inflated egos are commonplace, Dustin Brown’s attitude could not be any more refreshing.
As hot as the Kings have been out of the gate, though, let us remember that this is just early November and there’s a lot of hockey left to be played. That’s only mentioned to be cautious, though, and not to discount the success the silver-and-black have enjoyed thus far. After all, a significant part of that success can be — and should be — attributed to Dustin Brown.
From the plethora of punishment he dishes out to his occasional bursts of offense to his overall presence and impact, Dustin Brown is that guy who just won’t go away. For that, you can be sure that very few, if any, Kings fans are complaining.
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