Kings rookie Drew Doughty is living up to expectations

Drew Doughty's life is color-coordinated.

Greene, he's at home.

Brown, he's on the road.

That is how the Kings have structured things for Doughty, hoping that by keeping things simple off the ice for the 19-year-old defenseman he can continue to make life difficult for opposing teams on it.

Doughty, the second overall pick in June, walked out of the Ontario Hockey League in spring and into the Kings' lineup in fall. He logs 25 minutes a game, showing sleight-of-hand skills handling the puck and a he-shoots-he-scores ability from the blue line.

Such a package needed to be handled with care. Where to store him away from the rink was easy. You can even set it to music.

The "I Love L.A." life is handled by defenseman Matt Greene, who was asked to take in Doughty at his Hermosa Beach residence. The "On the Road Again" chore is handled by Dustin Brown, who rooms with Doughty on trips.

It's a tag-team big brother setup that strays into parenting at times.

Said Brown: "He sleeps for hours. I have to make sure he gets out of bed and gets to the rink on time."

Said Greene: "I have a five-second buffer that I employ with him. Just think before you talk."

Doughty, though, seems worth the effort, which has been clear a number of times this season.

"[Colorado's] Ryan Smith turned Drew inside out one game, scoring a goal that made him look bad," Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi said. "You see that happen to young defensemen and they go into a shell. Not Drew. He came right back, took the puck through the neutral zone, and got that goal back. That showed me that he is not only a top player, he's a winner."

Few doubted that.

Doughty was considered a gem in a jewel-encrusted draft. After one junior game, where Doughty carried the puck from his own end, through five defenders, to score the winning goal with 15 seconds left, an NHL scout called it "shades of Bobby Orr."

Comparisons continue. Following the draft, Lombardi used the names Ray Bourque, Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, all in one quote, to describe Doughty.

Said Doughty: "I love all the accolades I have been given. I just don't think about them. I can't. I mean, I could be sent back to junior hockey any time. The way I look at it, I have to earn my job here every day."

That has been his nature since he was a kid shooting hockey pucks and tennis balls against the wall in the basement of his parents' home in London, Canada. "After a while, they got me a net and I was off," he said.