Doughty pumped to do 'whatever role they need' for Canada at 4 Nations Face-Off

BROSSARD, Quebec -- Drew Doughty was preparing to make his season debut for the Los Angeles Kings in late January when the defenseman saw the news: Alex Pietrangelo was out for Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off and would have to be replaced.

"Ever since that happened, my eyes were set on making this team," Doughty said after Canada's practice at CN Sportsplex on Monday, two days after he was named to Canada's roster. "So, I'm very fortunate and very happy."

The best-on-best tournament, which features Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland, will be played in Montreal and Boston and runs through Feb. 20.

Canada opens the 4 Nations Face-Off when it plays Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

"It meant the world to me," Doughty said on getting the call. "I always want to play for Team Canada, always love honoring the country. I didn't know if I'd have the chance or not."

Doughty said he was working hard last summer in the hopes that he'd be selected for 4 Nations. Then he sustained a broken left ankle during a preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 25 and missed the first 47 games of the season. He made his season debut Jan. 29, playing 23:51 in a 3-0 loss to the Florida Panthers, and has averaged 26:57 of ice time in his six games since returning.

"I haven't seen any of his games (since returning), but you look at the minutes, he's right back where he left off," Canada forward Mark Stone said. "Definitely a guy like him who's been there, done that, pretty much everything in his game, you can never have too (many) of those guys."

Doughty has pretty much done it all and won it all. Selected by the Kings with the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, he has 670 points (156 goals, 514 assists) in 1,183 games with Los Angeles, with whom he won the Stanley Cup 2012 and 2014.

He won gold with Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2014 Sochi Olympics. He also won gold at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship and the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, and silver at the 2009 IIHF World Championship.

"He's a special player," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "I think it's exciting. You know what you get. He's a player who plays in all situations, plays a ton of minutes in L.A., and he's been doing it for so long.

"He's seen every situation. He's been in big games, he's won the Stanley Cup, he's done it all. To get a player like that is special. And for me personally I'm just excited to watch him and learn from him. You can learn so much from players like that. Just exciting to have him."

Not surprisingly, the defenseman who's long been known for playing a ton of minutes (he's averaging 26:13 a game for his career) is back to logging them each game. Doughty played 31:09 in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, one day after playing 29:27 in a 5-4 shootout win against the Dallas Stars.

The 35-year-old has one point, an assist, in six games for the Kings entering this tournament.

"I knew I'd be back at some point, just didn't really know when," he said. "Originally wanted to be back quicker than I was. They tried to hold me out. They wanted to hold me out even longer, but I wanted to come back. I started to get annoyed with my bag skates and stuff."

Other than Doughty and forward Adrian Kempe, who is playing for Sweden, the rest of the Kings are on break. Doughty wanted no part of that. He's had enough down time. He wanted to be here representing Canada, and he's gotten his wish.

"I don't need to go on vacation for two more weeks, my ankle blows up or something, you know what I mean?" he said. "This is good for me and good for the L.A. Kings because when I come back, I'll be rolling and hopefully make our team a lot better.

"When I got that call that I was on the team, it was probably the best day I've had in a lot of months. Just super excited and I'll do whatever role they need."