Kings at the Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics are upon us and, for the first time in 12 years, NHL players are FINALLY taking part. Adrian Kempe, Darcy Kuemper, Drew Doughty, Joel Armia, and Kevin Fiala will be their representing their countries. Hopefully, some of them will be bringing medals back to LA (although, team USA winning one would be nice, too). These five join a list of 19 players who also took part in the Olympics while also playing for the Kings. Doughty is the only one to have already done so in both 2010 and 2014.
Who are the other 18 players? How have they done in each of the 5 Olympic games that they appeared in? Who else has appeared more than once? Let’s take a look back and find out…
1998 – Nagano, Japan
Vladimir Tsyplakov (Belarus): 5 GP, 1 G – 1 A = 2 Pts
Tsyplakov was in the middle of his 3rd season with the Kings in which he played in a career high 73 games and scored career highs in goals (18), assists (34), and points (52). To date, he’s the only player from Belarus to play for the Kings.
Rob Blake (Canada): 6 GP, 1 G – 1 A = 2 Pts
Blake was one of 5 future Hall of Fame defensemen to man Canada’s blueline during this event. Despite their talent level, they lost in the bronze medal game. He and Ray Bourque tied for the team lead in +/- at +7. In LA, he was on his way to a Norris Trophy win while putting up a career high 23 goals.
Aki Berg (Finland): 6 GP, 0 G – 0 A = 0 Pts
Like his fellow 1995 draftee Tsyplakov, Berg was in his 3rd season in LA before he sat out the entirety of the 1998-99 season due to a contract dispute. Although, he didn’t factor in on any of Finland’s goals, he did take home the bronze.
Mattias Norstrom (Sweden): 4 GP, 0 G – 1 A = 1 Pt
Norstrom, ever the steady defenseman, helped Sweden to two wins against the USA and Belarus. He was just two years removed from being traded to LA from NY at the time.
2002 – Salt Lake City, USA
Mikko Eloranta (Finland): 4 GP, 2 G – 0 A = 2 Pts
Eloranta scored the game-winner in Finland’s third round robin game against Russia. It was the same number of GWGs that he had for the Kings up until that point after being acquired from Boston earlier that season.
Lubomir Visnovsky (Slovakia): 3 GP, 1 G – 2 A = 3 Pts
Back when Preliminary Rounds were still played before the Final Groups were determined, Slovakia took part, but failed to advance. Visnovsky had already played the most NHL games of any of his compatriot defensemen (131) when the games began. He finished tied for 3rd on the team in points and 2nd in +/- (+4).
Zigmund Palffy (Slovakia): 1 GP, 0 G – 0 A = 0 Pt
Palffy only played Slovakia’s opening game against Germany before leaving the event. He also participated in 1994 and, he came out of retirement to play again in 2010. With the Kings, he was on his way to his 2nd 30+ goal season.
Mattias Norstrom (Sweden): 4 GP, 0 G – 0 A = 0 Pts
The first of 5 players to participate in multiple Olympics during their Kings’ tenures, Norstrom took 1 shot, but otherwise played the stay-at-home defenseman role. With Blake gone, Norstrom was now representing the Kings as their captain in this event.
Aaron Miller (USA): 6 GP, 0 G – 0 A = 0 Pts
Miller finished with a team low 0 points and even +/-, but he was still able to stay in the lineup for every game alongside 3 future Hall of Famers. Together, they came one game shy of winning it all, taking home the silver medal. In LA, he was on his way to tying a career high 5 goals.
Adam Deadmarsh (USA): 6 GP, 1 G – 1 A = 2 Pts
The hero of the Kings 2001 playoff run and a winner of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Deadmarsh provided valuable leadership and grit as the US got the silver against Canada. Despite finishing the year with a career high 62 points, he would only play 48 more NHL games after returning from the Olympics as injuries took their toll.
2006 – Turin, Italy
Alexander Frolov (Russia): 3 GP, 0 G – 1 A = 1 Pt
Frolov was, unfortunately, injured just 3 games into the tournament. This derailed not only his one chance at competing in the Olympics, but his season with the Kings as well. He still improved his goal and point totals in his 3rd season before breaking out for 35 goals, 71 points during the 2006-07 NHL season.
Lubomir Visnovsky (Slovakia): 6 GP, 1 G – 1 A = 2 Pts
Visnovsky became the 2nd player (and 2nd defenseman) to represent the Kings at the Olympics when he participated in 2006. Unlike the previous time, Slovakia was a powerhouse in the round robin going 5-0 with wins over the USA, Russia, and Sweden. Lubo was the 3rd most tenured d-man this time around. In LA, he ended up leading the team in points with 67.
Pavol Demitra (Slovakia): 6 GP, 2 G – 5 A = 7 Pts
Demitra, captain of team Slovakia, tied for 2nd on his team and 11th overall in points at the event while also putting up the highest +/- of anyone (+10). Although he did not have any game winning goals, he assisted on one and had 2 assists in a 3-0 shutout of Sweden, the eventual gold medal winner. Injuries limited him to just 58 games in his lone season with LA, but he still scored over a point per game (62).
Craig Conroy (USA): 6 GP, 1 G – 4 A = 5 Pts
Conroy tied Scott Gomez for the team lead in points, each of them with 1 goal, 4 assists, as team USA finished with a disappointing 1-4-1 record. Two of his points came in the 3-3 tie with Latvia. In his only full season with the Kings, he finished 2nd in points with 66, just ahead of Demitra and just behind Visnovsky. He only eclipsed this point total once in his career.
2010 – Vancouver, Canada
Drew Doughty (Canada): 7 GP, 0 G – 2 A = 2Pts
Doughty was the youngest player on team Canada in his sophomore season. He was part of a blueline that featured 4 future Hall of Famers (not counting himself). Despite his age, he was trusted enough to be on the ice when the Golden Goal was scored in overtime against team USA. Drew set a career high that year in LA with 16 goals and a point total (59) that would stand for 8 years (60 in 2017-18).
Dustin Brown (USA): 6 GP, 0 G – 0 A = 0 Pts
Brown served as an alternate captain for team USA having participated in 4 previous World Championships. He won silver alongside teammates Jack Johnson and Jonathan Quick. This was only his 2nd season as captain of the Kings and he helped lead them to the playoffs for the first time in 8 years.
Jack Johnson (USA): 6 GP, 0 G – 1 A = 1 Pt
Johnson was the 2nd youngest defenseman on team USA. Like Brown, he had extensive experience representing his country at other international events. By the time the Olympics started, he had already doubled his career point total of 22 as he had scored 6 goals, 20 assists. JJ finished the year with 8 goals and 36 points.
Jonathan Quick (USA): 0 GP
Quick only dressed for one game at these Olympics, but he did not get into the game. Regardless, he still won silver as the team’s much younger 3rd string goaltender. He didn’t need the extra playing time though as he got into a ridiculous 72 games with the Kings. In just his first full season as LA’s starting goalie, he set a franchise record with 39 wins, only surpassed by himself 6 years later. This season, he put the NHL on notice that he was here to stay.
2014 – Sochi, Russia
Drew Doughty (Canada): 6 GP, 4 G – 2 A = 6 Pts
Doughty joined Norstrom and Visnovsky as the 3rd Kings defenseman to play in 2 Olympics. He did so in style, leading team Canada in goals with 4 and tied for 1st in points with 6. His 2nd game winning goal came in overtime against Finland, allowing Canada to win their pool and avoid playing Russia in the quarterfinals. The one-time gold medalist and Stanley Cup champion, became a two-time gold medalist and he would become a two-time Cup champion a few months later.
Jeff Carter (Canada): 6 GP, 3 G – 2 A = 5 Pts
Not to be overlooked, Carter finished 3rd in scoring for Canada. He assisted on Doughty’s overtime goal vs Finland and he had the primary assist on the eventual game winner of the gold medal game against Sweden. He nearly had Stanley Cup winning and gold medal winning goals after scoring twice in Game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. Carter also finished 2nd in regular season and playoff scoring behind Kopitar as the Kings won their 2nd championship in 3 seasons. He became the first and only King to score multiple playoff hat tricks.
Slava Voynov (Russia): 5 GP, 0 G – 0 A = 0 Pts
Voynov had no points in these games, but he later won gold and silver at the 2018 and 2022 Olympic games, respectively. This was his only full season with the Kings, playing in all 82 regular season games and all 26 playoff games.
Anze Kopitar (Slovenia): 5 GP, 2 G – 1 A = 3 Pts
Kopitar was the only active NHL player on the Slovenian roster and served as an alternate captain. His father, Matjaz, was also the coach of the team. The Kopitars helped lead their team to the semifinals with wins over Slovakia and Austria. Anze scored the game winner early in the latter game. Back in LA, Kopitar led the Kings in scoring for the 7th consecutive season. In the playoffs, he led all skaters with 26 points as he became a two-time Stanley Cup champion.
Dustin Brown (USA): 6 GP, 2 G – 1 A = 3 Pts
The Kings’ captain was named an alternate captain once again, and this time he even got to wear his traditional #23. One of Brown’s two goals gave team USA the lead in their quarterfinal game against Czechia, and they never looked back. Brown set the tone in LA all season by leading the team in hits in the regular season and playoffs. His overtime, game winning goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final completed the comeback that gave the Kings a 2-0 series lead. Brown became the first and, so far, only American captain to raise the Stanley Cup twice.
Jonathan Quick (USA): 5 GP, 3-2-0, 0.923 SV%, 2.17 GAA
After sitting out the entire 2010 games, Quick was the starter for team USA four years later. Winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophy might have had something to do with it. He finished with the 3rd best save percentage and goals against average of any goalie who played in at least 5 games. His 132 saves were 2nd only to Henrik Lundqvist whom he would battle 4 months later in the Stanley Cup Final. Quick bested Lundqvist to become the 2nd American to win 2 Stanley Cup clinching games.
Totals:
LA Kings players have played in 118 games in the 5 Olympic games from 1998 to 2014, scoring 21 goals and 47 points.
Medal Count:
3 Gold
5 Silver
1 Bronze
