September 26 practice quotes: Dustin Brown

So, Dustin Brown raised a few eyebrows last night with what was perceived as a vague, mysterious tweet.

Didn’t see this coming…

— dustin brown (@DustinBrown23) September 26, 2013

Not to worry, Kings fans! There’s good news…

Dustin and Nicole Brown welcome a baby girl (Ella Rose – 7 pounds, 11 ounces) to the family…born at 2:12 p.m. yesterday…congrats!

— LAKingsPR (@LAKingsPR) September 26, 2013

Err…

We passed on those but @LAKingsPR did your account get hacked like everyone else’s on twitter when they mess up the real name is Mackenzie

— dustin brown (@DustinBrown23) September 26, 2013

A warm congratulations goes out from all LA Kings Insiders to Dustin and Nicole Brown and the Brown Family. Mackenzie Brown is Dustin’s fourth child and first daughter.

On his newborn baby daughter:
It was shocking. My wife thought it was a boy for sure. We didn’t find out, which is the way to go, I think. Most people I think find out nowadays. It’s no fun that way. I think my wife was really shocked. We were calling it ‘him’ even this morning. It still doesn’t have a name yet, so we’ve got to find a name. [Reporter: Any names that you’re leaning towards?] I think it’s down to Mackenzie or Ella…[Reporter: The Kings tweeted Ella Rose was the name.] Yeah, it might change. That’s because Nicole, my wife, put it on Facebook, and then she’s like ‘I don’t know’ after she did it. [Reporter: Last minute scratch?] Kings will have to put out the typical ‘Sorry, my account’s been hacked.’ [Reporter: How’s mom doing?] She’s doing good. Both are doing good. [Reporter: How big is she?] She was seven pounds, 11 ounces. [Reporter: How does that compare to the boys?] She was bigger than all of them…[Reporter: So is this it?] This is it. No, this is it. You can put that on the record. I’m done. [Reporter: So do the guys still do the cigar thing, or is that just a cliché?] Not here. I don’t know if we have enough guys that smoke cigars in here. I don’t.

On testing his hamstring at practice:
It’s good. I mean, I got into a bit of contact drills today. It felt fine.

On whether he’ll be able to play this weekend:
Yeah, I mean, I’m going to probably skate Saturday morning. I’m not going to travel with the team just to get my wife and daughter home and settled, and I’ll probably jump on a plane for Vegas. I’ll probably skate Saturday and probably make a call [on] how I feel after, but today I felt pretty good.

On getting ready for the season, and whether he’s “mentally” ready:
Yeah, I mean it’s always exciting this time of year for players, especially I kind of missed out on the first part of camp, and this is probably when it gets more exciting, especially for a team like we have that’s a bit older. I shouldn’t say ‘older,’ but a more experienced team. You get down to the last couple preseason games, they feel more like regular seasons. You’re playing full NHL lineups most nights, and when you have a team with the personnel and with the internal expectation that we have in here, it’s always exciting this time of year. It was exciting…five, six years ago this time of year when we weren’t contenders for a Cup every year, so that changes things when you’re capable of playing deep into a year, and you just want to get started as a group of guys. You just want to get started.

On another compacted schedule:
You’ll probably hear a lot about it from teams that aren’t playing well. Every team kind of has to deal with it, so it’s who manages it best…West and east is probably the biggest difference, but we’re also not fighting [for] playoff spots against those teams, so the majority of the teams have a pretty comparable schedule here in the Western Conference. Again it’s about how you manage it.

On what realignment and the balanced schedule means to him:
As a player, I like it from the standpoint of we get to play some other teams. Quite honestly, playing the Ducks in Game 66 for the sixth time in five weeks, I mean we play them so much as it is. To be able to play in every building is pretty cool, I think for a player. I mean, there are some buildings – this will be my 10th year, and I’ve only played in some buildings once. [Reporter: Like where?] Pittsburgh – I’ve only played in there once. MSG – I’ve only played there once or twice…But that’s 600, 700 games, and I’ve only played in some of these buildings once or twice, which as a player, it comes down to the Ducks and the Coyotes. They’re always intense games, but sometimes it’s nice not to know every single person on the other team and get to see other players around the team.

On whether it was “weird” to see Dustin Penner in a Ducks jersey:
Well, I’m sure it will be more. I mean, I didn’t play in either game, so it’s a little different. I’m sure to some degree it’s like playing in the Olympics or World Championships when you see a teammate when you play with. I mean that’s probably even a little more weird, because you’re still teammates with a guy. [Reporter: So you’ll have a little extra for Doughty this time around?] Obviously, he got the better of me last time, but I did beat him twice one-on-one, so I can just keep telling everyone that.

On how the end of last season affects the team heading into the current season:
Well, I think getting knocked out – I said this last year – you don’t understand what you’ve really lost until you’ve done it. So winning it in 2012 and getting knocked out in 2013 was much worse than it was getting knocked out previously. As a group of guys, I think we’re well aware of what we’re capable of doing, for one, and two, I think a lot of guys remember that plane ride home from Chicago. It’s a pretty motivating feeling. [Reporter: Was it just silent on the plane?] You know, a lot of guys talk. Generally not about hockey, quite honestly, because you’re right in the mix of playoffs, and you’re ‘hockey, hockey’ all the time and focusing. It’s almost a bit of a decompression. You’re not celebrating by any means, but it’s more or less just talking about other things than hockey, which at that time of the year – it’s like when we got one, and everyone just wanted to talk about hockey, and all the players probably just wanted to not talk about it.

On the percentage he would place on playing in the October 3 season opener:
If you ask me, a hundred percent, barring no setbacks. If you asked me today, ‘Would I be playing in Minnesota?,’ Yeah. If we keep on progressing the way it’s going.