10 Days Of Dustin – The Legacy

Welcome To The 10th Day Of Dustin!

From February 1 through February 10, we’ve had a Dustin Brown themed post each day, leading into the Kings next home game on February 11, which will be one of the season’s most memorable. The Kings will retire Dustin Brown’s number 23 on that night, with a statue unveiling as well, in what’s sure to be a special and momentous occasion for those – including many Insiders! – who are able to attend.

Day 10 theme is simple – Legacy. Anze Kopitar was asked yesterday in the locker room, simply to get his own words, why he feels Dustin Brown is worthy of the honors he’s receiving. He paused and answered back “give me one reason why he wouldn’t be”. Hard to find one. Several others, including Kopitar, shared in more detail their thoughts on Brown’s legacy as an LA King and why he’s so deserving of the honors he’s receiving. Posted below for us all to enjoy. Using quotes collected from the 2012 reuninon over the summer (special thanks to Jesse Cohen of All The Kings Men, as well as the Kings Production Team), as well as in the locker room and at press conferences over the last couple of years, the list below is a small sampling of what was said about Dustin Brown, the legacy.

Drew Doughty, Kings Defenseman
Just very well deserved, I think it’ll be emotional as well. Even for myself, just watching this happen, I think I’ll be fighting them back a little bit to be honest. He just deserves it so much, he was great to everyone that has ever been in the LA Kings organization and he means a ton to the organization. We were all expecting it, so we’re just excited to be a part of it and very happy for him.

Colin Fraser, Former Teammate
He’s the face of the franchise. He is, I mean really, a legend. Everybody wants to play their whole career in the same city and play 2500 games and all the things but if you look at Dustin Brown, you think LA Kings right? Kudos to him and he deserves it. Playing with his heart and two Stanley Cups to the city, captain, quiet, no complaints, kind of does everything the right way.

Adrian Kempe, Kings Forward
A lot of things, the amount of games he played, the way he played, the amount of cups he won. Coming in, the team wasn’t great and the way that he and other guys turned it around and made it a championship team, it shows a lot about Brownie and the winner that he is, what he brought to this organization. No one deserves it more than him. I’m very happy and proud of him, proud to be a part of it and to have played alongside him as a linemate and a teammate for many years.

Anze Kopitar, Kings Forward
I mean, it’s just so well deserved. I mean, we knew it was coming and obviously it should be done for him, he’ll be standing at center ice and I’m sure he’s going to have a great speech because he’s got a knack for that too. To see his number going up to the rafters, I think for me it’s going to be a very emotional time. So hopefully him and the family, everybody involved, is going enjoy just as much as he will and as much as he does.

Todd McLellan, Kings Head Coach
Dustin is the complete package. As a player, you could put Dustin Brown in any type of game over his 18 years and he had a chance to be successful. Physical, tough, a fast game, a passing game, a special teams game, a tight game, a high scoring game – he could play in any of those games throughout his career and have a chance at success and make other people around him better. [He was] also the full package for Los Angeles, the LA Kings, the fan base. He was drafted, he was developed, he grew up in certain roles, he reached the pinnacle twice. He had to come down the mountain with the team a little bit and start to rebuild it and as we go through this rebuild and climb again, he was at basecamp with us and he started to get us going in the right direction. He’s the complete package that way as far as the whole evolution of the player in the organization, but also as a player on the ice, he was the complete package.

Jonathan Quick, Kings Goaltender
Not only for him, but for Nicole and what she’s meant to his career and all of us, the kids too, we’re just excited for the whole family, for them to get to enjoy it and have that day. It works out well, we’re playing Pittsburgh too so Carts is in town and he’ll be there. It’ll be a fun celebration, there will be some emotions involved, I’m sure, but we’re just obviously happy for, for him, Nicole, the kids, the whole family.

Luc Robitaille, Former Teammate, Current Kings President
What he’s done for this franchise had never been done before. He was drafted here, he became the captain and with all of his accomplishments – goals, points, hits, number of games played – and what he’s done for the franchise. He was the first captain to raise the Stanley Cup for the franchise and that alone was enough for him to get his jersey retired. But, when you add everything else on top of it and everything he’s meant to this franchise, it’s the ultimate no-brainer.

Jarret Stoll, Former Teammate, Current Kings Player Development
You don’t just just get all of that being rude and obnoxious and a bad teammate, a selfish teammate and a selfish player. You get that by being a good person and being a good teammate. Yeah, you’re a good hockey player and you’ve done a lot for the organization, but he was a great teammate, a great leader, he led in his own, different way. Everybody’s different, everybody does things differently and he had his own way of doing things, but he showed it on the ice, he backed it up. If you’re going to get all those accolades, and they’re well, well deserved, you’ve got to be the full, all-around classy human being and Brownie is.

Darryl Sutter, Former Coach, Current Calgary Flames Head Coach
Look at it this way, there are a lot of players that have been forefront for the Kings over the years, but you’d be hardpressed to find somebody who’s done so much, not just on the ice, but off the ice, for the organization. You talk about community, you talk about family, the way he presents himself and handles himself with the media, everything. If you’re picking the perfect player, in terms of their presentation, you’d put Dustin Brown there.

Kevin Westgarth, Former Teammate
Brownie getting a statue makes perfect sense. He really, really embodied and was the epitome of what that first Kings team to bring the Stanley Cup to LA stood for. The fact that he’s going to be up there with the other greats, he’s a guy that’s probably going to bleed purple and silver when he goes. It’s fantastic for him, I couldn’t be happier, I think everybody on the squad obviously couldn’t be happier for him. It’s, I think, the right thing for both the city and the team to be honoring, not just him, I’m sure he’ll defer that it is a pretty great representation of that 2012 Kings team.

That concludes the 10 Days of Dustin series here on LAKI! Naturally, not the last piece of Dustin Brown content to be shared here as we approach and eventually live the ceremony tomorrow evening, but hopefully a good representation of how those around him feel about the man being honored. A special evening awaits for many as we approach the big night.

10 Days Of Dustin, Archives
2/1 – The Milestones
2/2 – The Photos
2/3 – The Videos
2/4 – The Person
2/5 – The Player
2/6 – The Announcements
2/7 – Professionalism & Personality
2/8 – The Leader
2/9 – The Man Behind The C