Drew Doughty Shares Childhood Letter to Wayne Gretzky
The Los Angeles Kings captain penned a letter to the hockey legend at age 5, detailing his goal-scoring prowess.
Los Angeles Kings captain Drew Doughty has revealed a childhood letter he wrote to hockey icon Wayne Gretzky when Doughty was just five years old. In the letter, Doughty, then a young player for the London Red Circle Raiders, boasted about his impressive goal-scoring record in the mite division.
Doughty shared the two-page letter, which he wrote during his second year of organized hockey. "Last year I scored 6 goals all year. This year I got 93 goals," the future NHL star stated in the letter, noting that while coaches didn't keep score, parents did. He also declared Gretzky his favorite player and the Kings his "favourite team."
Even at five years old, Doughty expressed his deep connection to hockey, writing, "My mommy says I used to cry to stay up late and watch hockey when I was two years old." The young Doughty also asked Gretzky for a favor: to say hello to then-Kings goalie Kelly Hrudley.
The letter concluded with Doughty congratulating Gretzky on reaching his 2,500th NHL point and sharing a personal anecdote about a nurse at a local hospital attending Gretzky's wedding.
Doughty, 36, is currently in his first season as captain of the Kings, a team he has played for his entire 19-year NHL career. He has established himself as one of the top defensemen of the past two decades, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 2016 and helping the Kings secure two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014.