Dustin Brown And The Kings Can Still Walk Away With One Trophy This Season

May 16, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown before game two of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the San Jose Sharks at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The wound is fresh, the Kings were eliminated from the 2013 NHL Playoffs less then 48-hours ago and many are left thinking where will the Kings go from here. An obvious answer is the 2013 NHL Draft and Free Agency, taking place on June 30th and July 5th respectively.

But before both of those days, where the future of the Kings organization will be decided, the Kings will have a chance to add one trophy to their organization’s trophy case this year.

Only one Kings player was nominated for an NHL Award this year and it was Kings captain, Dustin Brown, who was nominated for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. The award is scheduled to be given away June 14th, during at 5 p.m during an awards show that will be shown on NHL Network and lived streamed on the NHL’s website.

The Mark Messier Leadership Award is annually given to a player who is seen as a leader in their sport both on the ice to their team and off the ice through their community involvement. The winner of the award is selected by Mark Messier himself, as opposed to being voted on, like most other NHL Awards given out.

This is the second time in Brown’s career that he has been nominated for an award that is based around charity work. Brown was nominated for and won the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2011 for his charity work in the Los Angeles area.

Brown is more then deserving of the nomination for the award in multiple ways. He has captained the Los Angeles Kings for the last 5 seasons and was selected as the Kings most popular player this season. There is the on ice facet of the nomination. Stemming from Brown’s physical play that puts him among the league leaders in hits each year, Brown donates $50 per hit to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and KABOOM!, a program that Brown, along with some of his teammates, built a playground in Carson in 2010.

Brown has taken part in the hit based donation program since 2008 and has raised more then $60,ooo for the two programs over that time.

A player’s time during the season can be very precious, and spending the free time one does have helping those less fortunate is always a good thing.

Brown is up against the Chicago Blackhawks’ Jonathan Towes and Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators.

It may not be the trophy that the Kings and Brown set out for at the beginning of the season, but it is still an honor that would shine great light on both Brown and the Kings organization.