Hockey has changed. So has insurance. We’ve changed the insurance game by offering customized coverage, in language you can understand, at a competitive price—and we do it all online. To find out how hockey has changed, we asked a few players to sit down with Devin Smith, Senior Director of Marketing & Community Relations over at
[We open on a black backdrop with Drew Doughty then cutting to Devin Smith]
[Speaker: Devin Smith // Job Title: NHLPA]
>>DEVIN: I’m here with Drew Doughty, a young boy from London, Ontario who has had an…
[On-screen text: Sonnet Brand Mark]
>>DEVIN: …accomplished career in the, in the pros, in the…
[On-screen text: Presents Then & Now]
>>DEVIN: …accomplished career in the, in the pros, in the big leagues…
[On-screen text: Hosted by Devin Smith NHLPA]
>>DEVIN: … and eh, you know hockey has changed…
[Cut to Drew Doughty.]
[On-screen text: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings]
>>DEVIN: … you’ve changed, and a lot of people say
[Cut to Devin Smith.]
>>DEVIN: ‘if I only knew then what I know now, things might have been different for me.’
[Cut to Drew Doughty, smiling, thinking.]
>>DEVIN: You look back, what would you tell your younger self? And is there a point when you would d tell yourself that, you would have been like, ‘that would have been great to know’ at that age? Is there something that you can share?”
[Speaker: Drew Doughty// Job Title: Defenseman, Los Angeles Kings]
>>DREW: I always worked hard in the games but there’s no doubt when I was young
[Cut to Devin Smith.]
I didn’t, probably didn’t work out as much as I probably should have
[Cut to Drew Doughty.]
during the season, um I slacked a little bit in practice maybe, I would take plays and pick at shots but maybe wasn’t skating my fastest all the time and I started to learn as I got older as a leader, that you need to lead by example and practice too and eh you know, if your leader is the hardest worker in the practice then the other boys have no choice but to follow you up. So, I learned that late, I wish I had of known that maybe a little bit earlier and I maybe would have stepped into a leadership role. Sometimes I look back at my younger self and I’m like ‘man you did a lot of dumb stuff’ but it worked in a way like I had a lot, I had some great success luckily and won some cups and gold medals. I for sure didn’t do everything right but clearly there was something I was doing right.
[Cut to over the shoulder shot of Devin, to Drew.]
>> DEVIN: I want to ask you about your parents’ pride, um, in seeing your success and eh…
[Cut to Drew Doughty.]
It’s happened so many times, my mom crying.
Whether it was the drafting, my first NHL game. My…anything.
They never hesitate to tell me how proud they are of me. It feels great hearing that from them.
They’ve always supported me in every way and when they tell me how proud they are of me, obviously, you feel like you’ve succeeded.
>>DEVIN: So, let’s talk a bit about your hometown, being from London.
We’ve been talking to guys about what, how their hometown built them into the people they are today with the support and tell us about playing minor hockey in London and the people.
>>DREW: I love London. I believe I’ll always live back home in London. I own a house there, I have a cottage back there. I go back every summer.
Like, basically, when the season is over, I’ll be in LA for one week and then boom, right back so.
Still have some of my friends to this day, guys, like three of the guys from my wedding party I started playing hockey with in London when I was seven years old, so we’ve been friends for…
>> DEVIN: That’s awesome.
>> DREW: Yeah, that’s like 21 years, I’m 29. Holy mackerel.
Man, I love being from London, I’m so proud to be from London.
All the guys on my team are always razzing me about it
‘Ah you guys gotta come to Londo’ you know, ah ‘London sucks’ you know, like I’m like ‘No, it’s the best city ever!’
>> DEVIN: You could be the mayor one day.
>> DREW: Yeah.
I love being from there and playing hockey growing up.
Like I said, I had some great coaches, made some great friends and then obviously my parents made great friends with their parents so we’re all still one big happy family type thing and it’s really cool.
[Cut to Devin Smith.]
So, this is crazy story actually too.
[Cut to Drew Doughty.]
So, my buddies, I live in this little neighbourhood, that’s kind of like a known neighbourhood in London to have some like, nice homes in it and my buddies live a couple streets over and so when my dad would drive to the house I’d be like “Dad like, take me down this street I want to go look at the house’ and my Dad would be like “No, its private property. No, no, no.” and so like, I’d be like, to my… eventually we could drive, we were sixteen years old, we could drive, so we would like drive down there and we would like look at the houses and be like “man” my dream is to live this cul de sac one day and I freakin’ bought a house in that cul de sac so, it was pretty crazy.
>> DEVIN: That is awe... What a great story and that you shared it with everybody and it’s such a family environment…
>> DREW: Yeah, yeah and off of what you said like I wake up, have my cup of coffee, and it’s just like birds chirping, the suns comin’ up…I love it.
>> DEVIN: That is so good.
Alright buddy, thanks for joining us here on Sonnet Then & Now.
>> DREW: Alright, thank you guys.
[On-screen text: Sonnet Brand Mark + NHLPA Logo]
[Drew Doughty is a paid spokesperson for Sonnet. NHLPA, National Hockey League Players’ Association and the NHLPA logo are trademarks of the NHLPA and are used under license. © NHLPA. All Rights Reserved. Sonnet Insurance is a registered trademark. Sonnet Insurance Company is a federally regulated insurance company.]
You know Drew. And maybe you know some of his numbers: eleven seasons wearing number eight as a first line defenseman for the LA Kings.
You already know about his first big dream in life. Before most of us could walk, he could skate. And before he was doing up those skates, he was dreaming of playing pro.
Because you know Drew, you know how that one worked out: Two Stanley Cups. Two gold medals. One Norris Trophy. No front teeth.
And yeah, maybe he’d do some things differently if he could do them again. For instance, he wishes he’d known that “as a leader,” he says,
“ You need to lead by example. In practice, too. If your leader’s the hardest worker in the practice the other boys have no choice but to follow you out. ”
But even if “I didn’t do everything right,” says Drew, “clearly there was something I was doing right.” Yeah, we’ll say. See above, re: that time he won a gold medal and a Stanley Cup in the same year—the same year! So when does an athlete playing at that caliber feel like he’s succeeded? When his parents tell him that they’re proud of him. “It’s happened so many times, my mom crying,” he laughs. “Draft day. My first [professional] game. Anything.”
But let’s get to that other dream. The one you don’t know about.
Drew grew up in London. London, Ontario—the other London, as those of us from London always have to explain. And yeah, his teammates think London sucks and don’t understand why he loves it. But that’s because they don’t know “London” like Drew does. When we tell him, “You could be the mayor one day,” he laughs and says, “yeah,” because he loves London. Loves it so much that as soon as the hockey season is over he’ll be in LA for a week “and then boom—right back” to his house in London.
“ I believe I’ll always live back home in London ”
And that’s because his home—that particular spot in London, on that particular street—is the other dream.
As a kid, on the way to his friends’ houses, he’d beg his dad to drive him down that one specific street because he wanted to look at the nice houses on it.
“No,” his dad would say, “no no no. It’s private property.”
But that didn’t stop Drew and later, when he got his own license, he’d still be driving down that street, looking at those same houses, with those same friends, saying “Man, my dream is to live in that cul de sac one day.”
And now, after dream number one came true, you know how that second dream worked out.
“I frickin’ bought a house in that cul de sac,” says Drew, with a big smile.
How frickin’ nice is that?
Hockey has changed. So has insurance. Whether it’s your first home, your dream home, or the car you’re driving your friends around in,