The doubt about Doughty is gone
With the NHL’s Stanley Cup finals underway, three Storm alumni along with former Head Coach / General Manager Dave Barr are trying to capture the Stanley Cup just one year after Daniel Paille, who played his entire junior career in Guelph and Geoff Ward, who coached the Storm to their last division title, were part of the Boston Bruins’ championship run.
Captaining the Los Angeles Kings is former Storm forward Dustin Brown, who was chosen one round after Guelph picked Paille in the first round of the 2000 draft. Brown went on to play three seasons in the Royal City. He was the Storm’s co-MVP in 2002-03 and his 98 goals in 174 regular season contests rank 11th all-time in team history.
Joining Brown on the LA Kings is former Storm first round pick Drew Doughty, who played 218 games on the Guelph blueline before being selected second overall by the Kings. Doughty earned the Top Scorer Award (2006-07), Rookie of the Year (2005-06) and Defenceman of the Year (2006-07, 2007-08), before graduating to the NHL.
Also vying for the Stanley Cup is Cam Janssen, a trade deadline pick up by the Storm during their run to the 2003-04 OHL title. Janssen was acquired by Dave Barr, the General Manager in Guelph that season. Barr is now one of three Assistant Coaches with the Devils.
By Rob Longley, QMI Agency
Sometimes it seems as though Drew Doughty, one of the most talented defencemen currently playing the game, can do nothing right.
When Steve Yzerman named him to Team Canada for the 2010 Olympics as a barely 20-year-old, the selection was seen as a stretch, especially for a Games being played at home. Paired with Duncan Keith, Doughty of course was a big reason for Canada’s gold medal victory.
When he signed an eight-year, $56 million deal after a holdout last fall, the pressure was on, and then compounded after Doughty appeared to regress during the first half of the season.
And then in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final here on Saturday night, he scored one of the highlight goals of this playoff season and twitter flamed in outrage at those who dared compare the play to Bobby Orr.
Sometimes, it seems, the young man can’t win for winning.
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But the youngest NHLer ever selected to a Canadian Olympic team has played a massive role in putting the Kings two wins away from a franchise-first Stanley Cup title following Saturday’s 2-1 overtime at the Prudential Center.
Doughty’s goal at 7:49 of the first period, showed the undeniable offensive upside, a big reason it’s tough to keep your eyes off of him when he’s on the ice.
