NEWARK – Drew Doughty knows he’s got a little bit of a history when it comes to being a hothead.
So the Los Angeles Kings do-it-all defenseman was a little sheepish recounting his antics during the third period and overtime of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals in Phoenix.
Doughty yelled, screamed and slammed his stick down to the ice tomahawk-style in a 27-second tirade during overtime after he was whistled for an interference call by Kevin Pollock. Things ended well for Doughty and the Kings as Los Angeles were able to kill off the penalty and capture the 4-3 OT victory to advance to the Cup Finals.
But he’s also received an earful from his teammates since the series ended in their favor.
They’ve chided him by calling him a “baby” after he flipped out on the refs in both the third period and overtime of the elimination game, and Doughty said there will be no repeat performance of “Going Postal on the Ice.”
“They were calling me a ‘baby’ and making fun of me in that sense,” said Doughty. “They told me not to do it again because I was lucky I didn’t get a 10-minute misconduct. Then I would have been just sitting in the box for a long time. That would have been a bad thing.
“The guys were all making fun of me and whatnot. I regret doing it and not being able to control myself. I need to find those refs and apologize to them. That’s for sure. I didn’t have a chance to after the game. When I see them again I definitely will.”
So don’t expect stick swings of fury during the Cup Finals if he’s headed toward the box during a pivotal stretch against the New Jersey Devils. The Kings need a player that’s put up 10 points and a plus-10 in 14 playoff games while soaking up 25 minutes of ice time per game, so there’s no room for tantrums on the way to the penalty box.
“That’s something I had somewhat of a reputation for earlier on in my career, and it’s something I’ve worked hard to eliminate from my game. This whole playoff run, I think that was the first time I had really lost it on the refs,” said Doughty. “All that tension was building up and it finally bubbled over.”
The 22-year-old got it all out of his system while dispatching the Phoenix Coyotes, and now the stick is back to shooting rather than swinging.
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