Dustin Brown received a telephone call from Luc Robitaille on May 15, 2022, the day after his NHL job ended. The forward had revealed his choice to retire, the Los Angeles Kings had lost to the Edmonton Oilers in 7 games in the Western Seminar Preliminary, and the Kings head of state intended to see him. When Brown showed up at his office, Robitaille told him Los Angeles would retire his No. 23 and reveal a sculpture of him in front of the arena. A sculpture?" I go, like, 'Luc, that has sculptures out there?'" Brown stated. "And he resembles, 'Generally? Or, like, hockey gamers?' 'Let's just begin with hockey players. ' He goes, 'Well, me and Wayne. '" Brown reminded Robitaille he was a tale. "Wayne" was Wayne Gretzky. " I just said, 'I'm not mosting likely to exist,'" Brown said. "' I'm a little awkward. '" Robitaille reminded Brown he had done something twice that Robitaille and Gretzky hadn't done when with the Kings: win the Stanley Mug. " Because moment," Brown claimed, "it really felt good. " Brown had not been a generational skill. He was reduced from a select team representing the state of New york city at age 15, and after a quick increase as a possibility, he found he needed to make it in the pros with grit. Yet he invested his whole 18-season NHL job with one team and was Los Angeles' all-time leader in video games played when he retired. He was captain from 2008-16, leading them to the Cup in 2012 and 2014. He received the Mark Messier Leadership Honor after the 2nd championship. He rankings 7th among United States-born players in NHL video games played and was the second American to captain a Cup champion, after defenseman Derian Hatcher of the Dallas Stars in 1999. He represented the U. S Kings Hoodies. in the Olympics two times, the IIHF Globe Championship four times and the IIHF Globe Junior Championship two times, winning silver in 2010 and bronze in 2004. Therefore, he'll be sworn in into the United States Hockey Hall of Popularity with Brian Burke, Katie King Crowley, Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Murphy at an event in Boston on Wednesday. © & duplicate; Gary A. Vasquez/NHLI via Getty ImagesThe Kings retired Brown's number and unveiled his statuary Feb. 11. The statue summarize his tradition. He is holding up the Mug in Los Angeles. " I was a good player," Brown said. "I played my game. However I was just part of a truly special group, and I was maybe the face of the team during that very successful time, and Luc stated it finest: 'You did something we couldn't do. '" Discussing it currently, it still makes me really feel uneasy, yet I'm still really exceptionally pleased with it. " * * * * Brown learned how to skate by pushing a chair around a protected exterior rink at Cass Park in Ithaca, New York City. He additionally played baseball and lacrosse, however there was simply something concerning the feel of the ice. " If it was a hockey method or a lacrosse practice, I was constantly wishing to go to the hockey method," he stated. "I think naturally the skating makes hockey enjoyable, also when all you're doing is getting skated. I kind of fell crazy with the skating part of it. " When he didn't make the select group standing for the state of New York at age 15, Brown really did not most likely to a nationwide competition and wasn't on the radar of the USA Hockey National Team Advancement Program. He had no idea where he was headed. " People do not think me when I say this," he stated, "however I really did not also understand what the Ontario Hockey Organization was. " After he had 53 factors in 24 games in his second season at Ithaca High, Brown was picked by Guelph in the second round of the 2000 OHL Concern Choice. He received a deal from the NTDP however had already signed a younger contract. Back after that, he had not been physical. His initial ready Guelph, he hadn't transformed 16 yet, and a challenger had a full beard. He placed up large offending numbers in three seasons in the OHL and represented the United States twice worldwide Juniors. " I went from deficient in New York to being among the most effective youngsters in the country within a year," he claimed, "so it kind of all occurred really quick for me. " Brown was picked by the Kings with the No. 13 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft. He played for Los Angeles as a rookie in 2003-04, then spent a season with Manchester of the American Hockey Organization during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. " It was horrible for hockey," he stated, "yet it was terrific for me. " It allowed him to establish in the minors with no stress, and though he had 74 points in 79 games, it made him the gamer he would certainly become when he went back to the NHL the adhering to season Alex Turcotte Jersey. " I remember my very first few weeks in the AHL," he claimed. "It occurred to me quite quick, like, 'Yeah, I'm not going to be able to score 40 right here. What can I do to remain in the schedule?' You see my initial few years. I'm a bowling sphere around. That entered into my identity. It provided me area. " * * * * It's not such as Brown really did not have ability in the NHL. He had 60 points in 78 games in 2007-08, and he scored a minimum of 20 objectives in a period 7 times. But this is a person who had 3,632 hits, 3rd in NHL background. " He had not been scared of anything," claimed Stars defenseman Ryan Suter, who bet Brown in the NHL and with him for the united state "He would certainly run you with a wall surface whether you were teammates or friends with him, and after that after, certainly, everything was fine. I think it took a toll on his body gradually, just being as physical as he was. " Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, Brown's roomie on the roadway, stated Brown required a special board under his mattress to make the bed hard. Brown would stretch and ask Doughty to crack his back. © & copy; Adam Pantozzi/NHLI via Getty Images" I saw all the pain he experienced," Doughty said. ".. When you see your captain doing whatever it requires to play on the ice to aid his colleagues, that trickles with. It's rather outstanding that he might play that physical with how damaged he was, to be truthful. " Brown made regard from colleagues and opponents alike Alexander Edler Jersey. " Just a high-character guy," claimed Dallas forward Joe Pavelski, that, like Suter, played against Brown in the NHL and with him for the united state "Led by instance. One credit to his video game is, you recognized what you were going to get from him. He played a difficult video game. He was physical going to the web. He included that physicality from his video game, and he likewise had that offending touch to rack up along the road. " He did it all. " I believe there's a lot extra obviously to 'Brownie' than simply striking," Kopitar stated. "He had the knack to make a big play when it truly matters one of the most, whether that was get in front of a puck, hit someone or make a play in the eleventh hour of the game so we might win by one objective. He was on the ice in every circumstance, and rightfully so. " Brown has few regrets. He never won gold for the United States. When the world junior team won gold in 2004 in Finland, he was qualified to play yet already in the NHL. He was an alternating captain for the Olympic group in 2010 for an overtime loss to Canada in the gold medal game in Vancouver and in 2014 for a semifinal loss to Canada in the semifinals in Sochi. He said that is just one of the things he has actually reflected upon ahead of his USA Hockey Hall of Popularity induction. For years, he didn't value his Olympic experiences as a result of the losses. Today, he realizes it's a few of the most effective hockey he ever got to play. " The chance to represent your country in a moment like that, regardless of the end result, it's something that I believe you value a lot more with time," he said. He stated his mind often wanders to the loss in Vancouver. However if he's ever before really feeling down, all he needs to do is search for as his statue in Los Angeles. " I mean, you win 2 Stanley Mugs," he said, laughing, "your mind drifts there a lot too. "