Drew Doughty Interview - 2010 NHL Awards

Last month we met with blue-chip blueliner Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings at the 2010 NHL Awards in Las Vegas to discuss his first taste of the NHL postseason and winning Olympic Gold with Team Canada. These are his stories.

Q: Tell me about your first ever NHL playoff experience this year.
A: It was awesome. Obviously the Kings hadn’t made the playoffs in however long, so to be on a team that’s finally done it was awesome. Even though we lost to the Canucks, we competed with them. I think the series could have gone either way.

Q: The fans in LA went crazy in the playoffs.
A: They did. They were unbelievable. Our barn was louder than theirs. And the Vancouver fans, you know, they’re pretty crazy out there. So to have that support in LA was awesome. Hopefully they're the exact same next year.

Q: Is Vancouver one of your top rivals now based on that playoff series?
A: Yeah definitely. We had a pretty hard fought war with them in that playoff series and we developed kind of a hate relationship for one another. So it’s definitely going to be hard fought games everytime we play.

Q: Who got on your nerves the most on the Canucks?
A: I’m going to be honest, there’s about three or four of them. But Burrows is the one guy that really got on my nerves every once in a while. We battled through the games, but afterwards it was congratulatory.

Q: Talk about winning Olympic Gold this year.
A: That was crazy. Words can’t even really explain winning the gold medal. Growing up you always want to win a gold medal and to be able to finally do that and be with those guys that they had on that team they were just unbelievable guys. We had such a good time. And you know, that’s why we won.

Q: As a player, what's the difference between the NHL playoffs and the Winter Olympics?
A: To be honest, the playoffs and Winter Olympics are pretty similar in terms of the emotion and the passion. Every player knows that every game can make or break their team. It’s so hard fought. It’s great hockey.

Q: What’s the training plan for the summer?
A: I’ll be in LA a little bit. I’ll be back home in London a little bit as well. Back and forth. Training hard.

Q: Who are your trainers?
A: I train back home with Jeff Van Damme. And our trainer in LA is Tim Adams.

Many thanks to Drew for speaking with us. Best of luck next season.