The LA Kings’ Drew Doughty sits down with Sonnet to talk hockey, and advice to his younger self

Hockey has changed. So has insurance. We’ve changed the insurance game by offering customized coverage, in language you can understand, at a competitive price—and we do it all online. To find out how hockey has changed, we asked a few players to sit down with Devin Smith, Senior Director of Marketing & Community Relations over at our official partner, the NHLPA.

Then & Now: Drew Doughty | NHLPA | Sonnet Insurance

You know Drew. And maybe you know some of his numbers: eleven seasons wearing number eight as a first line defenseman for the LA Kings.

You already know about his first big dream in life. Before most of us could walk, he could skate. And before he was doing up those skates, he was dreaming of playing pro.

Because you know Drew, you know how that one worked out: Two Stanley Cups. Two gold medals. One Norris Trophy. No front teeth.

And yeah, maybe he’d do some things differently if he could do them again. For instance, he wishes he’d known that “as a leader,” he says,

You need to lead by example. In practice, too. If your leader’s the hardest worker in the practice the other boys have no choice but to follow you out. ” Drew Doughty

But even if “I didn’t do everything right,” says Drew, “clearly there was something I was doing right.” Yeah, we’ll say. See above, re: that time he won a gold medal and a Stanley Cup in the same year—the same year! So when does an athlete playing at that caliber feel like he’s succeeded? When his parents tell him that they’re proud of him. “It’s happened so many times, my mom crying,” he laughs. “Draft day. My first [professional] game. Anything.”

But let’s get to that other dream. The one you don’t know about.

Drew grew up in London. London, Ontario—the other London, as those of us from London always have to explain. And yeah, his teammates think London sucks and don’t understand why he loves it. But that’s because they don’t know “London” like Drew does. When we tell him, “You could be the mayor one day,” he laughs and says, “yeah,” because he loves London. Loves it so much that as soon as the hockey season is over he’ll be in LA for a week “and then boom—right back” to his house in London.

I believe I’ll always live back home in London ” Drew Doughty

And that’s because his home—that particular spot in London, on that particular street—is the other dream.

As a kid, on the way to his friends’ houses, he’d beg his dad to drive him down that one specific street because he wanted to look at the nice houses on it.

“No,” his dad would say, “no no no. It’s private property.”

But that didn’t stop Drew and later, when he got his own license, he’d still be driving down that street, looking at those same houses, with those same friends, saying “Man, my dream is to live in that cul de sac one day.”

And now, after dream number one came true, you know how that second dream worked out.

“I frickin’ bought a house in that cul de sac,” says Drew, with a big smile.

How frickin’ nice is that?

Hockey has changed. So has insurance. Whether it’s your first home, your dream home, or the car you’re driving your friends around in, Sonnet has you covered.

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