Defensive defensemen may not get a lot of attention, but they can be important parts of a hockey team, something Greene's teammates know.

A bruising player who rarely avoids contact, Greene (6-foot-3, 229 pounds) is a stay-at-home defenseman who keeps his game simple, clears the puck and will punish opponents in his path.

Selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round (No. 44) in the 2002 NHL Draft, Greene made his League debut Dec. 30, 2005, against the Nashville Predators.

After playing 27 games for the Oilers that season, Greene made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut in Game 4 of Edmonton's first-round series with the Detroit Red Wings. That was Greene's only appearance in the six-game series, but Greene was back in the lineup for Game 1 of the second round against the San Jose Sharks. Greene would play in 17 of Edmonton's final 18 playoff games that spring, including all seven games of the Oilers' Stanley Cup Final loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Greene scored his first NHL goal Dec. 14, 2006, in a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild. He finished that season, his first full one with the Oilers, as Edmonton's leader with 109 penalty minutes and was second with 135 hits and 143 blocked shots. After Greene played 46 games with the Oilers in 2007-08, Edmonton traded him to the Los Angeles Kings with Jarrett Stoll for Lubomir Visnovsky on June 29, 2008.

The Kings named Greene an alternate captain to start the 2008-09 season and he established himself as a mainstay with Los Angeles. Playing all 82 games that season, he finished first on the team and 10th in the NHL with 167 blocked shots and was second on the team with 206 hits.

L.A.'s leader in hits in 2009-10 and 2010-11, Greene won the Ace Bailey Memorial Award as the Kings' most inspirational player five times in six seasons between 2009-10 and 2014-15. He finished 2011-12 third among NHL defensemen with 241 hits and played all 20 games during Los Angeles' run to its first Stanley Cup title.

Greene scored his first two Stanley Cup Playoff goals that season, and on April 28, 2012, against the St. Louis Blues, he became the second Kings defenseman to score a shorthanded playoff goal (Rob Blake, 1993). He helped the Kings win a second title in 2014.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• USHL Second All-Star Team (2002)
• Traded to Los Angeles by Edmonton with Jarret Stoll for Lubomir Visnovsky, June 29, 2008.