Kings captain Dustin Brown joins Swiss hockey league

Los Angeles, CA, United States (4E Sports) – With no end in sight to the NHL lockout, Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown has decided to take his act to the National League A in Switzerland, signing with reigning champion ZSC Lions.

According to Brown’s agent, Scott Norton, the captain of the defending Stanley Cup champion will leave for Zurich on Nov. 7 and will play his first game Nov. 13, after teams return from a break for players’ national obligations.

Brown will be reunited with former Kings coach Marc Crawford, who replaced Bob Hartley as the coach in Zurich after Hartley guided the Lions to the title last season.

He scored 22 goals during the regular season and led the Kings’ postseason run to the Stanley Cup with 20 points in 20 games, including eight goals. His three game-winning goals led the playoffs.

Crawford welcomed Brown’s addition, saying he will help the Lions keep pace with some of the other Swiss teams that have added NHL stars to their roster.

Earlier this week, the Lions were beaten by HC Davos powered by San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton and New York Rangers forward Rick Nash.

“We’ve got three good imports,” Crawford said. “We have Ryan Shannon, who has been really good. Jeff Tambellini has been really good and Matt Lashoff, who played with the (Toronto) Marlies last year.”

With Swiss teams getting the services of big-name NHL players, Crawford said the league is now enjoying tremendous success after a slow start.

“For the first month, those guys were all behind, they really were,” Crawford said. “Now they’ve caught up and are really showing themselves.”

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