It was a night fit for a King.
Over the weekend, the L.A. Kings honored Dustin Brown at the Cryto.com arena retiring his jersey following his final season, capping off nearly two decades with the team.
Brown was drafted in 2003 and played his entire career for the Kings, retiring at the end of the 2021-22 season after 18 years in the league. On Saturday night, he was joined on stage for a two-hour pregame ceremony by his parents, wife Nicole, their 4 children, former teammates and coaches, and some other Kings legends.
The night was emceed by Nick Nickson and filled with lighthearted sentiments from his former teammates. Former defenceman Matt Green shared stories about when the two were making their way out to Los Angeles from Boston for the very first time; Brown was performing card tricks and Green thought his new teammate was a bit “off,” he told attendees.
From the stage, Brown reminisced about his first game at the Staples Center, saying he wasn’t aware players parked underneath the arena, so he pulled into a lot and paid the $20 charge. His son Mason even got on the mic saying that he is proud of his dad and loves having him home all the time now.
Brown and his family embraced on the ice as his #23 banner was raised to the rafters and he became the 7th Kings player to have his jersey retired and the 3rd to have a statue placed outside the arena. But the real surprise came when former teammate and current Kings captain, Anze Kopitar, took over the mic to welcome the Stanley Cup back to the Crypto.com Arena. Brown was given his old jersey with the letter “C” and instructed to stand on an “X,” which marked the exact spot where he first hoisted the trophy during the Kings’ Stanley Cup wins during the 2011-12 season again two years later.
To cap off the night, the team picked up a shutout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-0. Following the game, Brown’s banner was lowered and the Stanley Cup was brought back to the ice for a photo opportunity with his former teammates, family, and friends.
Over Brown’s career, he was not only the team’s youngest captain, at 23 years old, but he was also the first American-born captain in team history. On top of that, he is sixth in Kings’ history with 325 goals, seventh in points with 712, and eighth in assists, with 387. Brown is also the Kings’ all-time games leader and a 2x Stanley Cup champion.
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