PLD back to ABC’s

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This article was published 01/04/2024 (553 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Never mind what the numbers might suggest. Pierre-Luc Dubois is not suffering from a crisis of confidence.

The former Winnipeg Jets centre certainly recognizes his level of play hasn’t been where he expected it to be after he joined the Los Angeles Kings in a blockbuster deal last summer.

But Dubois is encouraged by a recent stretch of play and credits dealing with a similar situation during his first season with the Jets (2020-21) as something that has helped him deal with the challenges.

“If I hadn’t dealt with it my first year here, it would be a lot harder,” Dubois said Monday morning. “Whenever you get to a new team sometimes, it can go one of two ways. When I first got to Winnipeg, my first season wasn’t great. And that’s probably sugar-coating it. It wasn’t good at all. It was frustrating and that’s the first time in my life that happened. So, it was tough. Then I show up (in L.A.) and obviously you want to start off good, but there’s a possibility that it’s rough.

“I learned a lot from my first year here. I learned that it doesn’t always happen overnight. I’m not panicking. My first year in Winnipeg compared to my last year in Winnipeg was two wildly different things. On the ice and off the ice and mentally, it felt so different. I’m not panicking and I’m not nervous. I haven’t lost my game. I haven’t lost who I am. I just needed to get back to that. Sometimes, it’s a little more complicated.”

Prior to Monday’s contest, Dubois was heating up offensively, producing seven points in his last eight games to move him to 15 goals and 35 points in 73 games.

On a Kings’ roster that includes Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault down the middle, Dubois has seen his ice time reduced more than three minutes compared to a career high of 18:55 during the ‘21-22 campaign in Winnipeg.

“My first year in Winnipeg compared to my last year in Winnipeg was two wildly different things. On the ice and off the ice and mentally, it felt so different. I’m not panicking and I’m not nervous. I haven’t lost my game. I haven’t lost who I am. I just needed to get back to that. Sometimes, it’s a little more complicated.”–Pierre-Luc Dubois

“I don’t think I’ve changed too much in the past couple of games. You start enjoying it more, thinking less and you just start going out there and playing,” said Dubois. “Once you find lines that you’ve played with for a while, you develop that chemistry. You can go out there and think less. With my instinct, just know where guys are.

“Sometimes it will take a week, sometimes it will take a month. Sometimes it takes a year, like my first year here. But the most important part is to not panic and to not start doubting who you are or who I am as a player. I know what I can do. That’s just part of the ups-and-downs of the NHL.”

This was the third meeting of the season — and second in Winnipeg — between the clubs.

Dubois was happy to report his mother was going to attend this one after skipping the October meeting at Canada LIfe Centre.

“The first time is always the most special. The second time, you kind of get used to it and everything,” said Dubois. “It’s always fun to see guys that you’ve played against, especially so recently. It will be fun, it will be exciting. My mom is coming to the game. She didn’t come the first time because she didn’t want to hear the boos. I told her that this time, ‘You’re probably still going to hear them.’ But it will be fun to play in front of her. It’s always special playing in front of your family.”

“My mom is coming to the game. She didn’t come the first time because she didn’t want to hear the boos. I told her that this time, ‘You’re probably still going to hear them.’ But it will be fun to play in front of her. It’s always special playing in front of your family.”–Pierre-Luc Dubois

It’s natural to wonder if signing a big-ticket contract (eight years, US$64 million) before the sign-and-trade deal was completed played a role in the slow start for Dubois, though he was quick to pour cold water on the theory.

“To me, to be honest, from the outside, everybody has a different perspective of how you would feel. Yeah, it is frustrating, but it isn’t more frustrating because I make more money than last year,” said Dubois. “It’s frustrating because I’m a competitor. It’s frustrating because I know what I can do.

“But on the inside, I’m a competitor and I’m not motivated by money. I’m not motivated by stuff like that. I’m just motivated by how I know I can play. It’s not more pressure. I don’t see it. To me, it’s just to play like I can to help this team win.”

Kings interim head coach Jim Hiller believes the turnaround in Dubois’ game is partly related to him imposing his will physically more of late.

“I’m not sure that there’s one thing,” said Hiller. “For him, I would say that he’s probably been a bit more physical than he was earlier in the season and the only reason I mention that is that to be physical, you’ve got to move your feet. When he’s moving his feet, he’s dangerous in the neutral zone, so I would say there’s a bit of a correlation there. But I don’t know that there’s a specific thing.”

The Kings made a coaching change on Feb. 2, as Todd McLellan was replaced by Hiller, who was on the staff as an assistant before his promotion.

“Yeah, you never want to see that happen. Especially with my dad (Manitoba Moose assistant-coach Eric Dubois) working in that business, you never want to see (that). It’s a person behind that too, so that was unfortunate,” said Dubois. “But I mean, when a new coach comes in, me and Jimmy had a relationship before and the relationship continued to develop as he’s been the head coach. We’ve had good conversations about what he wants to see (from me) and it’s my job to go out there and do what I’m told.”

Hiller was asked what his primary objective was in trying to get the best out of Dubois after taking over as the bench boss.

“I just think it was a bit of a reset for PL, more than anything,” said Hiller. “I don’t think he liked the way that the first half went, so it was a chance to clear his head, get a break over the All-Star break, come back and make a push. That’s what he’s done.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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