Doughty continues to make flawless jumps
By Adam Kimelman NHL.com
Drew Doughty said it was during his first NHL game last season that the enormity of where he was hit him.
Here he was, an 18-year-old kid, just months out of playing with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, sharing the ice with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Rob Blake and the rest of the San Jose Sharks.
“You go from the OHL to exhibition games and that’s a huge jump,” Doughty told NHL.com. “And you go from exhibition games to regular-season games and that’s an even bigger jump. My first game I struggled a little bit, I was in awe of how fast the game was and I was just lost out there.”
It didn’t take him long to find his way, however, as Doughty played 81 games, averaged a team- and rookie-leading 23:49 of ice time per game, had 27 points and emerged as a No. 1 defenseman.
The second pick of the 2008 Entry Draft, Doughty will face the player selected immediately after him, Atlanta Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian — another player who has the look of a cornerstone blueliner — Friday in Atlanta (7:30 p.m. ET, GCL).
“Growing up it was my dream to make the NHL, but you never think it’s going to come true,” said Doughty. “You want it to happen but you know how tough it is. Making it happen at such a young age — I was 18 for half the year last year. It’s been pretty unbelievable.”
His strong play last season was rewarded this summer, when he was one of 46 players invited to Calgary for Canada’s Olympic Evaluation Camp. Doughty was the youngest player at the camp and the only player from the ’08 draft class invited.
“Being 19 years old and getting an invite to that is pretty breathtaking,” said Doughty. “I was so surprised. I never expected it, ever. Getting invited and playing with those guys at that camp, there were so many good players out there. It was mistake-free hockey. It was awesome to be part of that.
“It was the fastest-pace game of hockey I’d every played in my life. It was easier but harder at the same time. Easier because your guys are always in the right spots and they’re always making tape-to-tape passes. But it’s harder because the other team is doing the same thing coming down on you as a defenseman.”
While Doughty admitted to being in awe of some of his country’s best players, some of those players certainly noticed him.
“He’s a phenomenal young stud, if you want to call him that,” Kings teammate Ryan Smyth told NHL.com. “He’s excellent and it’s great to have him on our team. His chances (for the Olympics) are certainly as good as anybody’s.”
Smyth, who has earned the nickname “Captain Canada” for all his international experience, certainly knows what the Olympic experience will be like. He was asked if Doughty looked overwhelmed.
“No, not at all,” he said. “He belonged there.”
Doughty said he’s keeping all his Olympic hopes in the back of his mind for now.
