Results tagged “Dustin Brown” from Inside the Kings

USA Today is publishing a series of columns this weekend from Dustin Brown about his experiences at the All-Star Game in Montreal. In the first one, Brown talks about his selection and how he feels about the game. Here's an excerpt:

``Since being named to the NHL's Western Conference All-Star team the first week of January, I have been asked a lot of questions. A lot of them have to do with whether I will be able to control myself during the game, as I like to hit a lot of guys out there on the ice.

I guess you could say that I am still trying to figure that one out. I know that this game won't allow me to hit like I normally do during a regular season game -- my normal game probably doesn't suit the NHL All-Star Game style in any way -- but maybe I will come up with something.''

The full column can be found here.

Here's the second half of the long interview with new team captain Dustin Brown...

Here's the first part of a long interview I did with Dustin Brown a few days ago. You'll note the question, ``What would it mean to you to be team captain?'' I did the interview before he was announced as captain, so that's why it's worded the way it is. Anyway, there will be a big story on Brown in tomorrow's Daily News, but this is the first part of the long-form interview that I did for the story.

I consider Brown to be a really interesting story on the Kings. He arrived at age 18 and basically sat in the corner and didn't say anything. Over the last five years he has really evolved, not only as a player but as a man and a teammate. It's no coincidence that his emergence, in both areas, coincided with the departure of Sean Avery, who really was a miserable teammate to Brown in particular. So I hope you enjoy the first half of the interview with Dustin Brown...

Dustin Brown caused quite a stir at the World Championships yesterday. With the horn about to sound in the United States' 3-2 loss to Finland, Brown drilled a Finnish defenseman behind the net and touched off a fairly major postgame brawl. The United States is playing Norway right now in the final ``qualification'' game. Quarterfinal games begin Wednesday.

This is the final day of the preliminary round of the World Championships. As far as the Kings' interests go, the United States (with Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan) finished second in Group B and will start the ``qualification'' round with a game Thursday against the third-place team from Group C. That's likely to be Slovakia (with Lubomir Visnovsky), but that group's standings won't be determined until today. Slovenia (with Anze Kopitar) finished fourth in Group B and dropped into the relegation round and will play Friday against the fourth-place team from Group C, which will probably be Norway.

Quite a game up in Halifax today. They're still in pool play in the World Championships. Canada took a 3-0 lead early in the second period. USA pulled within 3-2 on Patrick O'Sullivan's goal 3:09 into the second period, then within 4-3 on Dustin Brown's power-play goal 5:18 into the third period. O'Sullivan assisted on Brown's goal, and Brown had an assist earlier in the game. USA tied it 4-4 seven minutes into the third period and Canada scored the winner with 47 seconds remaining when Dany Heatley one-timed a wobbly pass from Ryan Getzlaf past Craig Anderson. Both teams will advance to the elimination round, which begins Thursday.

Slovenia, with Anze Kopitar, plays Latvia this afternoon and most likely needs a victory to avoid being dropped to a lower division next year.

Officially, that's USA 5, Slovenia 1. Anyone else sense a trend in these World Championships? I wonder if one player has ever scored ALL of the goals for his team in a major international tournament... I suppose it's possible. Anyway, Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan had assists for Team USA, which next has a big showdown with Canada on Tuesday. Slovenia plays Latvia on Tuesday and probably needs a victory to avoid being relegated to the lower division in next year's World Championships.

The United States is playing Latvia right now in the World Championships. Dustin Brown scored 7:21 into the game to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead, and Patrick Kane just scored, 8:22 into the second period, for a 2-0 lead. By the way, the U.S. is wearing the old-school, 1980-style jerseys. No names on the back, which makes it a little hard to watch, but still very cool.

The IIHF World Hockey Championships opened today, and Canada beat Slovenia 5-1 in a pool-play game in Halifax. Anze Kopitar scored the only goal for Slovenia. Kopitar's father, Matjaz, is an assistant coach for Slovenia. The United States, with Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan, plays Latvia at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.

Dustin Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan scored goals today, as the United States beat Sweden 5-1 in a World Championships warmup game in Maine. The U.S. opens play in the World Championships on Friday in Nova Scotia.

In other housekeeping news...be aware that there might be some issues with the blog today or tomorrow. We're switching servers, which ultimately will be a great thing but there is the possibility of some short-term headaches. Just wanted to make everyone aware in advance.

Also, make your vote count in the poll. I'll be passing along the results to Dean Lombardi. Maybe he will bow to the will of the people. Probably not.

DUSTIN BROWN

This season: 78 games, 33 goals, 27 assists, minus-13 rating.

Positives: Where to begin? Toward the end of last season, coach Marc Crawford said Brown could be a 30-goal scorer. Brown, who had scored 31 goals, combined, in his previous two seasons, netted 33 this season and became a regular winger on the Kings' top line. He kept his penalty minutes in check, reduced his plus-minus rating from minus-21 to minus-13, took a career-high 219 shots on goal and, perhaps most importantly, improved his skills as a vocal leader.

Negatives: Not many. His assist total actually dipped, from 29 to 27, and Brown can't forget to retain that hard-nosed, hitting style, just because he has proved to be a talented scorer.

Looking ahead: Crawford thought he could be a 30-goal scorer. So did Brown hit his ceiling this season? That's hard to imagine, since he's only 23 years old. It was a great year for Brown, who signed a big contract and had his first child. The challenge is to get even better and avoid the type of letdown Michael Cammalleri had this season.

Contract situation: Signed through 2013-14 (cap number of $3.175 million next season).

Announced during the game by the Kings:

AS VOTED BY THE MEDIA
Most Valuable Player: Anze Kopitar
"Bill Libby Memorial Award" for Best Newcomer: Jack Johnson
"Mark Bavis Memorial Award" for Outstanding Defenseman: Jack Johnson
Defensive Player: Patrick O'Sullivan

AS VOTED BY THE KINGS PLAYERS
Most Inspirational Player: Dustin Brown
"Ace Bailey Memorial Award" for Unsung Hero: Jeff Giuliano

AS SELECTED BY THE KINGS CARE FOUNDATION
Community Service: Derek Armstrong

AS SELECTED BY THE KINGS BOOSTER CLUB
Most Popular Player: Dustin Brown