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A22 sports
Saturday 30 June 2018
Drew Doughty stays with LA Kings on 8-year, $88 million deal

By GREG BEACHAM in free agency next year.
AP Sports Writer He grew up a Kings fan in
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — southern Ontario, and he
Defenseman Drew Dough- was thrilled when Los An-
ty has agreed to an eight- geles chose him with the
year, $88 million contract second overall pick in 2008.
extension through the 2026- Doughty is second among
27 season to stay with the Kings defensemen in ca-
Los Angeles Kings. reer goals (102), assists (320)
Los Angeles announced and points (422), trailing
the whopping deal Friday only Blake in every catego-
for its two-time Stanley ry. He also has appeared in
Cup-winning cornerstone. 84 playoff games, scoring
After cracking the Kings’ 51 points.
roster as an 18-year-old, The 28-year-old Doughty’s
Doughty has been among new contract has the NHL’s
the NHL’s top defensemen highest average annual
throughout a 10-year ca- value among defense-
reer spent entirely with the men, although it could be
Kings.He won the Norris Tro- surpassed by the next con-
phy as the league’s best tract for Ottawa’s Erik Karls-
defenseman in 2016. son, whose current con-
As an aggressive, skilled tract expires in 2019.
two-way blueliner, he has Los Angeles’ core of elite
been a finalist for the award veterans is all signed
in three other seasons — in- In this Dec. 23, 2017, file photo, Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty works with the puck to long-term contracts
cluding 2017-18, when he during the third period of the NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks in San Jose, Calif. through at least the next
scored a career-high 60 Associated Press three seasons.
points while playing in all 82 playing for Canada. general manager Rob when he will be one year Those players include cap-
games for the fourth con- “Drew Doughty is one of Blake said. away from free agency. tain Anze Kopitar, goalie
secutive season. the best defensemen in the He still has one year left on By the time his new deal Jonathan Quick, Dustin
Doughty played a major world, and we are obvious- an eight-year, $56 million ends, Doughty will be 37 Brown, Jeff Carter, Alec
role in the Kings’ Stanley ly excited to have reached contract signed in Septem- years old. Neither the Kings Martinez, Dion Phaneuf
Cup triumphs in 2012 and this point in the process in ber 2011. nor Doughty seriously ex- and newcomer Ilya Koval-
2014, and he also has two which he has committed to Doughty can’t formally sign pected the defenseman chuk, who signed with the
Olympic gold medals from the Kings long-term,” Kings the new deal until July 1, to leave his adopted home Kings earlier this week.q
Wimbledon first since 2010. Each of the

other four times, one or the
other collected the title:
Continued from Page 17 Nadal have divvied up all Nadal in 2008 and 2010, Fe-
of the past six major titles, derer in 2006 and 2007.
He earned his record eighth claiming a trio apiece. “They won everything —
title at the grass-court ma- It’s their longest such stretch both of them won every-
jor a year ago, and he ran since grabbing six con- thing, and not only once,
his total Grand Slam haul to secutive majors in 2008-09, but so many times,” said
a record 20 men’s singles which included Nadal’s 9-7 Robin Soderling, who lost to
trophies by winning the fifth-set victory over Feder- Federer in the 2009 French
Australian Open in Janu- er in the 2008 Wimbledon Open final (after upsetting
ary. “I don’t know how final, considered by many Nadal along the way) and
much longer it’s going to to be the greatest ten- Nadal in the 2010 French
last,” Federer said. “I have nis match ever. The duo’s Open final (after upsetting
no idea.” He was speaking best run was 11 Slams in a Federer along the way).
about his own success. But row from 2005-07, when Fe- “But they are still hungry.”
he might as well have been derer won eight and Nadal They manage their sched-
talking about the two-man the other three. ules more carefully in their
supremacy exhibited by “This is perfection. They are 30s: Federer skipped the
himself and his greatest ri- the best players in the world clay-court circuit, while
val, Rafael Nadal. and are proving that even In this July 6, 2003, file photo, Switzerland’s Roger Federer Nadal opted not to play
holds the Men’s Singles trophy after defeating Australia’s
Nadal, 32, hadn’t even when your body is not as Mark Philippoussis in the final of the All England Lawn Tennis any grass-court tuneups
entered a major tourna- young as it was, when one Championships on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, in London. before arriving at the All
ment in 2003. These days, still has the drive and is well Associated Press England club.
he trails only Federer in the prepared, nothing replac- Yes, all these years later, and Federer No. 2 — but just He’s a two-time champion
all-time men’s Grand Slam es talent and strong will,” Roger and Rafa are still barely, with a 50-point gap and three-time runner-up
standings, with 17 of his said French Open tourna- leading the way. between them. Because at Wimbledon, but Nadal
own, including No. 11 at ment director Guy Forget, One other indication: They Wimbledon’s seeding sys- had some trouble at the
the French Open just this a former top-five player have swapped the No. tem takes into account the place lately, failing to get
month. and captain of France’s 1 ranking a half-dozen men’s success on grass, Fe- past the fourth round in any
Remarkably, especially giv- Davis Cup and Fed Cup times in 2018, the most it’s derer is No. 1, and Nadal of his past five appearanc-
en all of the talk in recent teams. switched hands in a single No. 2, in the draw. es, with a quartet of losses
years about their supposed “The young players are still season since 1999. This is the fifth time that to players ranked 100th or
declines, Federer and lagging behind.” As of now, Nadal is No. 1, they are seeded 1-2, and worse.q