On Friday, LA Kings center Phillip Danault was on “NHL Now” showing off his prize for being deemed ‘Swag Stick of the Month.’
While the LA Kings may have to wait until Sunday to play their next game, that doesn’t mean that their players can’t have a little fun until then.
On Friday, the NHL Network‘s NHL Now deemed Kings centerman Phillip Danault the “Swag Stick of the Month” recipient. The 28-year-old was present, via video, to show off his prize: an NHL Now mini-stick.
“Yeah, I think it’s awesome,” a lighthearted Danault said of his award before showing off his prize to the amusement of the show’s hosts, Jackie Redmond, E.J. Hradek, and former NHLer, Mike Rupp.
“I’m very proud of that ‘Swag Stick’ award,” Danault added. “Thank you so much for choosing me. I’m very, very proud.”
Rupp then couldn’t help but bring up the collective childhood memory of playing mini-sticks in the hallways of hotels and “maybe take your hat off and use it as a glove”. This was something that Danault, like most kids aspiring to be professional hockey players, could attest to.
“Oh yeah, big time,” Danault fondly reflected. “I don’t think I was the guy that takes his hat and be a goalie a lot, but yeah, definitely played it so much with no room. I played my friends, there was a– definitely, the best time as a kid was to play, like, outside on the ice and the mini-stick was always in there, too, for sure.”
E.J. Hradek then pointed out that Danault was the first player to win this honour, asking the center when he plans on displaying his new prize.
“Absolutely,” Danault noted of needing to clear room in his house to display the mini-stick. “And for my name, it will be [en]graved on the stick at one point for the big awards.”
The NHL Now crew then responded, admitted that the engraving was out of their subject. Nevertheless, while the LA Kings may have been struggling on the ice as of late, their players can still have some fun, and that is exactly what Phillip Danault did on Friday when speaking with the aforementioned crew.
“My kid loves it. That’s for sure,” Danault concluded of his new prize. “He played with it already. Good thing I got two sticks.”
Phillip Danault is making the best of his maiden campaign with the Kings thus far.
In 22 games this season, the Victoriaville, Que. native has three goals and eight assists to go with a plus-1 rating. He also has 26 hits, 11 blocked shots, and has averaged 18:13 of ice time per game.
Danault and the Kings are back in action on Sunday evening when they travel to northern Alberta to take on the high-powered Edmonton Oilers.
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