Doughty clarifies comments about Canucks: 'Guys twisted my words'

Following the Los Angeles Kings' 8-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 9, Drew Doughty made headlines when he said "a team like that should not be beating a team like ours 8-2."

"There's actually no way," he continued. "I know they had a lot of energy right off the bat because it's their home opener and they had their whole ordeal with the captain and whatever. But we had chances to come back, and then we just gave up a goal right after we scored a goal. It was a bad team effort by everyone on this team, I thought."

Doughty's remarks inspired a new Canucks team slogan.

Ahead of Tuesday's matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Doughty clarified his comments while speaking to Canadian media for the second time since the drubbing in Vancouver. He believes his words were taken out of context.

"The guy's an idiot that made all that happen," Doughty told reporters, according to Sportsnet. "What I was trying to say there was they're a young team, we're an old team. We lost the game like 8-1 or something. That's just ridiculous for a veteran team to lose that bad to any team in the league, not only a young team. That was what I meant by those comments."

"Out in Vancouver, guys twisted my words. Pissing me off," he added, according to Luke Fox of Sportsnet. "I just want to go play and win games."

Doughty is arguably the league's most outspoken player, but he threatened his candidness could end if his words get mangled again.

"If you guys want us to be able to say things and be honest with you and then you're gonna go run with it and just get attacked by it, we're just gonna stop talking," he said.

The transitioning Kings sit third last in the Western Conference with a 5-9-0 record. However, Doughty is producing a bounce-back season thus far with 10 points in 14 games. He scored 45 points last season, well below his 60 in 2017-18.

Meanwhile, the Canucks (9-3-2) sit two points back of the conference-leading Edmonton Oilers with two games in hand.