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Kings Forward Dustin Brown Finalist For NHL Foundation Award

Los Angeles Kings captain/forward Dustin Brown has been named a finalist for the 12th Annual NHL Foundation Player Award, the Kings and the National Hockey League announced today.

 

The award recognizes an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community. This is the second consecutive year Brown has been nominated.

 

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 23, during the 2010 NHL Awards that will be broadcast live from the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Hotel Las Vegas on VERSUS in the United States and on CBC in Canada . Buffalo ‘s Ryan Miller and Washington ‘s Mike Green are the other two finalists.

 

Brown, 25, is as active off the ice in the community as he is on the ice with the Kings, as he has led numerous initiatives involving the team’s players and staff.

 

Some of those initiatives include the following:

 

He encouraged the entire Kings roster to become active in the team’s new community ticket program, Kings Community Corner, in which donors and fans could purchase tickets and use them to send underprivileged children to Kings games. As a result of his activism, every Kings player contributed to the cause, donating more than $40,000. To date, more than 15,000 Los Angeles youth have experienced live Kings hockey through this program.

 

Brown took action after the January earthquake in Haiti by starting an initiative in which every Kings player donated $200 for each of the team’s wins in February. The Kings won four out of six games that month, raising $40,000 for American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti .

 

During the 2008-09 season, Brown and his wife, Nicole, launched a signature program with KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America . Last year, monies raised through KaBOOM! were used to build a playground in Los Alamitos. This year’s funds will continue to be used for building new playgrounds in Southern California .

 

Brown participated in the Kings Adopt-a-Family program earlier this season, in which players adopt families during the holidays, providing gifts and items of need to support them. In addition to the team’s involvement in the program, Brown and his wife independently adopted a large family with a child currently being treated at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

 

Brown also serves as a spokesperson for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, an organization dedicated to providing support for clinical research in pediatric cancer, while improving the medical environment for all children. During the holidays, Brown encouraged fans to support the annual Kings 4 Kids Night, which annually raises upward of $25,000 for CCRF.

 

The Kings partnership with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is focused around Brown’s activism, as he often attends events, makes appearances, films PSAs and forges relationships with the hospital’s medical team in order to truly understand their challenges and needs. Brown has become the face of the Kings’ $500,000 initiative with the Blood Donor Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, lending his name and likeness to the look and creative design of the LA Kings Bloodmobile.

 

In January, during the Kings “Month of Hope” initiative, Brown was personally involved in the Kings fundraising component to AEG’s partnership with City of Hope, helping to raise more than $60,000 for the cause. Brown attended numerous events to support “Month of Hope,” including a campus visit to City of Hope and serving as coach for the “Face Off for Hope” Celebrity Hockey Game.

 

In 2009, he was named the Los Angeles Kings “Hometown Hero” at the Southern California Sports Choice Awards presented by Sports Profiles, and was also recognized as a 2009 Outstanding Young Californian by the California Jaycees Foundation and the California Junior Chamber for his “commitment to challenge and inspire California ‘s youth.”

 

To view Brown’s Community Video, visit: http://kings.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=731&id=41314

 

A member of the silver medal winning Team USA at this year’s Winter Olympics, Brown was selected as the Kings Most Popular Player and was a recipient for the Kings Community Service Award (for the second consecutive year) after finishing third on the Kings with 56 points, second with 24 goals and tied for third with a career-high 32 assists. He also led the team with 287 hits (second-most in the NHL) and was one of three Kings to play in all 82 regular season games (Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar). Brown was also the Kings nominee for the 2009-10 King Clancy Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.

 

Named the 15th captain in Kings history on Oct. 8, 2009, Brown is also the youngest captain in Kings history and the first American-born captain in Kings history.

 

Brown was originally selected by the Kings in the first-round (13th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Brown has 248 points (113-135=248) and 310 penalty minutes in 431 career games with the Kings.

 

NHL Clubs submitted nominations for the NHL Foundation Player Award and the finalists were selected by a judging panel. The NHL Foundation will present $25,000 to the chosen charitable organization of this year’s recipient.

Past recipients of the NHL Foundation Player Award include Rick Nash (2009), Vincent Lecavalier and Trevor Linden (2008), Joe Sakic (2007), Marty Turco (2006), Jarome Iginla (2004), Darren McCarty (2003), Ron Francis (2002), Olaf Kolzig (2001), Adam Graves (2000), Rob Ray (1999) and Kelly Chase (1998).

Kings Forward Dustin Brown Finalist For NHL Foundation Award

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