Drew Doughty has secured a much-desired invitation to the 4 Nations Face-Off from Team Canada, getting added to the roster late Saturday as an injury replacement for Alex Pietrangelo.
The Los Angeles Kings defenseman missed 47 games to start the season after suffering a fractured left ankle in training camp. As a result, he was passed over when Hockey Canada finalized its roster in early December.
But the possibility of another chance to don the Maple Leaf helped push Doughty through a long rehabilitation following surgery. Before making his season debut for the Kings on Jan. 29 in Florida, the 35-year-old told reporters he hadn’t given up on the dream of getting the call from Canada. He was elated when it finally came.
“Exciting, exciting day,” Doughty told reporters in Los Angeles. “I had this on my mind ever since I’ve come back, and put a little too much pressure on myself to perform at a very high level. Game was kind of up and down. Ever since I knew I had a really good chance, in the last two games, I think I got back to (being) myself.”
Pietrangelo pulled out of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Jan. 26 because of an ailment the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman is opting to rest during his team’s two-week break for the tournament.
That opened up the roster spot given to Doughty.
Why did Doughty get the call?
Let’s start with the obvious: His resume.
Two Stanley Cup wins, a Norris Trophy, more minutes played than any NHL skater in the 10 seasons preceding this one and a sparkling international past.
Beyond Sidney Crosby, Doughty is the only remaining tie to Team Canada’s golden generation — the group that won gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics plus the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The country is 31-3-1 in games in which Doughty played. He is two-thirds of the way to joining the exclusive Triple Gold Club with only a gold medal from the IIHF World Hockey Championship missing from his trophy cabinet. Canada won silver in Doughty’s only appearance at that event in 2009.
The weight of all those accomplishments factored heavily into the decision-making process and helped give Doughty an edge over the other potential right-shot, defense-first options at Canada’s disposal: MacKenzie Weegar of the Calgary Flames, Chris Tanev of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brandon Montour of the Seattle Kraken, among others.
Ultimately, Doughty had to demonstrate to the Canadian brain trust that he was healthy enough to be counted on so soon after a significant injury. The Kings certainly didn’t ease him back into action as the veteran returned with three games in four nights on the road and logged 23:51, 27:43 and 24:16 in those contests. Starting with Wednesday’s win over Montreal, he played another three games in four nights this week and saw even more ice time: 25:16, 29:27 and 31:09.
“That’s a special player who can just come in and do that after not playing,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said recently. “He’s a gamer. He’s a champion.”
Team Canada was monitoring those games closely.
Doughty kept in contact with Canadian player relations advisor Ryan Getzlaf, telling reporters that Getzlaf was inquiring about whether he believed he would be ready to handle top-tier international competition. Returning during a stretch when the Kings were in Florida also allowed Doughty to have a face-to-face chat with Jon Cooper, the Canadian head coach, before Los Angeles and Tampa played at Amalie Arena last week.
Where does Doughty fit?
This should become clearer when Canada takes the ice for a couple practices in Montreal on Monday and Tuesday before opening the tournament against Sweden on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
Doughty is one of three right-shot defensemen on the roster, joining Cale Makar and Colton Parayko. The lefties are Devon Toews, Shea Theodore, Travis Sanheim and Josh Morrissey.
Only six defensemen are expected to dress for each game, but Doughty is a good bet to be one of them given the team’s preference to ice balanced defensive pairs featuring players on their strong side of the ice.
Makar will almost certainly be Canada’s primary power-play option on the point, but there may be some secondary minutes on that unit for Doughty. He’ll also take a regular shift at five-on-five and can be used on the penalty kill.
Just getting into the tournament represents a major win after the longest injury absence of his 17-year NHL career. He went eight months between meaningful games from the end of the playoffs last spring and endured some challenging moments when he first resumed skating following ankle surgery.
“At first I had doubts because I got on the ice, my ankle didn’t feel great in the beginning and I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to skate and keep up with these guys,”‘ said Doughty.
Those doubts have since been put to rest. It was a long road and this outcome was far from certain.
“Right away when I got injured this year, that was honestly my first thought: ‘Damn it, I can’t make the (4 Nations) team and play in the tournament,”‘ Doughty said Saturday. “And then I heard about Pietrangelo unfortunately going down, and right away I just tried to start getting back in the lineup and try to make that team. I think a lot of people had me written off, do have me written off, so I’m really proud to make this team.
“Anytime I put on that jersey means the world to me, so I’m ready to go.”
(Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
