Dad’s Trip – Detroit

Maybe this is the true essence of what a father’s trip means, this moment by the buses after a disappointing loss in the middle of a five-game road trip.

Sure, the Los Angeles Kings’ dads (along with one brother and one grandfather) were treated to many cool outings – like a tour of Ford Field, home of the National Football League Detroit Lions and a sprawling private room for pool and golf simulators at a Detroit casino, not to mention suites at two NHL games to watch their sons ply their craft.

But those moments are like the wrapping paper or bows on a gift.

The real meaning is beneath the obvious.

And so it was after a disheartening 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings to complete this two-game dads’ trip, the fathers gathered in the bowels of Little Ceasars Arena near the loading docks.

And a funny thing happened as the players slowly emerged from the locker room.

Sure, there were hugs and warm embraces between the players and their fathers who were preparing to jet or drive on Tuesday to their respective homes while the Kings were headed late Monday night to Florida for two games and then on to Carolina to close out this five-game road trip.

So, the hugs and the quiet conversations were to be expected not unlike the many conversations these fathers and sons have been sharing after tough games for years and years.

But soon players were hugging the other dads, many of whom they had met for the first time just days ago.

And the dads were hugging and embracing other members of the team as trainers and public relations staff and security staff headed to the team buses.

Then, even though they were staying the night, the dads began hugging and embracing each other.

Slowly the players and dads and staff made their way to the buses. And still they were reluctant to take that final step that would break the spell, milling about.

Finally, team staff, mindful of schedules and deadlines and a charter jet waiting at Detroit airport, began motioning the groups to their buses like teachers trying to shepherd school children away from a playground.

And still the dads and their boys dragged their feet.

Because in the end losing sucks but saying goodbye sucks even more.

This was the first dad’s trip for the team since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were a core of dads, Matjaz Kopitar, father to Kings captain, Anze, who was on fathers’ trip seven, and Paul Doughty, father to son Drew, who was on trip six, and Randy Lewis whose son Trevor won two Stanley Cups with the Kings in 2012 and 2014 and has returned to the Kings as his solid NHL career winds to a close, who knew each other and had developed relationships over the years. Even Brent Kuemper knew some of the veteran dads from the brief time his son, netminder Darcy, was with the Kings during the 2017-18 season.

But for the most part this was a group of strangers brought together by the common bond of being fathers to NHL players who happen to play for the Los Angeles Kings.

So, even for someone like Paul Doughty, there was something new and energizing about this dads’ trip as he renewed old acquaintances but more importantly forged relationships with a whole new set of dads to a new set of Kings players.

“Everyone’s got a different story,” said Paul Doughty. “They all came to the NHL from different areas and different ways and it’s actually pretty interesting to listen to some of this stuff.”

For instance, Doughty was part of a conversation with Brandt Clarke’s father, Chris, when Chris revealed that not only is he a long-time orthodontist who makes regular trips to Canada’s Far North to provide dental care to underserviced communities, but he also does forensic dental work in Eastern Ontario to help identify remains, sometimes remains connected to murders.
Here’s the thing.

A couple of years ago the Kings were in Washington and Brandt was up with the Kings before he became an everyday NHL player. Chris Clarke and his wife Trish had made the trip to watch the game and it took some time but Trish surmised they were sitting next to Drew Doughty’s parents.

There was a brief meeting in the family area after the game – Paul Doughty recalls Drew telling the Clarkes he’d help make sure Brandt was okay – but that was it.

A fathers’ trip like this breaks down any and all barriers.

Case in point is Clinton Byfield, father to Quinton Byfield.

During a pre-game event Monday Byfield took control of the microphone and began interviewing the rest of the fathers.

Thoughtful and well-spoken, Byfield, sporting a stylish hat he and a handful of fathers purchased during a similar event in Columbus, looked as though he was made for the broadcast world as he went from father to father, eliciting wonderful stories about their sons.

Those anecdotes included former NHLer Alfie Turcotte describing how his son, Alex, once shot and scored on his own net by mistake early in his hockey journey.

Khalil Thomas described how his son, Akil, once mistakenly celebrated with the opposing team after the opposing team had scored a goal on Akil’s team.

Later, in the suite before the game, Brent Kuemper had his turn with the camera and asked Paul Doughty to name his favorite dad.

“Well, it must be that Kuemper fellow,” Doughty dead-panned.

No wonder no one wanted to get on the damn buses.

What was built, then, on this trip, has the chance to be something lasting and meaningful just like the relationships being built in the Los Angeles Kings locker room with a very young core and a handful of meaningful additions in the off-season.

Can you draw a line from one to another in terms of what those kinds of relationships mean and what they might yield down the road?

The fathers believe you can.

“Obviously you have a picture in your mind of what it would look like, sort of inside the locker room, the behind the scenes with the players,” explained Rob Laferriere, father to forward Alex Laferriere who was among the many fathers taking part in their first-ever dads’ trip.

“But the one big takeaway for me has been just how close-knit group this actually is,” the long-time hedge fund trader explained.

“I can see why they’ve had some success on the ice, because of how much they merge and blend and everything off the ice,” said Laferriere who is currently involved in a major hockey development in south Florida helping to build a two-pad rink facility. “It’s been refreshing to see how well all the players get along,” Laferriere added.

It’s not always so.

Teams always talk about chemistry and culture but they are harder to see in real terms.

Who better to assess whether such qualities exist on this Kings teams than fathers who have spent literally years around their boys, now men, playing in different environments?

Because it isn’t always like what the Kings fathers have observed on this trip.

“For sure, for sure. I agree with that,” Laferriere said. “And you know what? I think, to your point, I think a lot of that stems from the leaders in the group. So, if the leaders are accepting of the younger guys and they include them in everything, then that sort of trickles down and translates throughout the entire team. And I can definitely see that with the strong leadership on this team and how it impacts the younger guys and how much they all gel together. It’s really been a pleasure to see.”

What does Paul Doughty think, given Drew’s long tenure with the Kings – and by extension Paul and the rest of the Doughty family’s long observance of the ups and downs of this NHL organization?

“I think he’s 100 percent correct and I would also say that back in the early 2010s, Drew said the same thing about the team how they were very tight,” Paul Doughty said.
“And you know what happened in ’12 and ’14. So, I am very hopeful,” he added with a laugh.