EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- If Dustin Brown stands up in the Los Angeles locker room before the Stanley Cup finals opener Wednesday night and delivers a stirring, emotional speech that would make Mark Messier proud, his teammates wont know how to react. "Well, hes not a rah-rah guy," veteran Kings defenceman Matt Greene said. "We dont have too many of those guys in the room. But he knows how to lead, and he does it by example." Brown prefers showing to telling, whether its with a timely goal or a bruising hit. The Los Angeles captains playoff performance has demonstrated something quite clearly to the Kings: Behind his leadership theyre capable of winning the franchises first title. Browns hard-hitting, high-scoring play has been the biggest revelation of the post-season for the eighth-seeded Kings, but his quantum leap forward began during the regular season. Browns run of stellar play started right after he was prominently featured in trade-deadline rumours linking him to Toronto and beyond, forcing the forward to wonder whether he would have to move his young family away from his only NHL team. "Of course its concerning to you, but I tried to just concentrate on what I could control," said Brown, the NHLs third-leading post-season scorer. "I just focused on hockey and getting this team to the playoffs, because I felt like we had a team that could do a lot if we got there and started playing together. We felt like we owed it to the fans here to take a shot instead of worrying." The Kings long-suffering fans are always near the forefront of Browns mind when he discusses this playoff run. He realizes Los Angeles has enjoyed only one previous run to the final in 45 years of existence, and he learned all about the Kings paltry playoff success when he logged 431 regular-season games with the franchise before reaching his first post-season two years ago. "This is the most successful weve been, but its not where we want to end up," Brown said. With 16 points in just 14 games, Browns scoring has sparked the Kings, but his physical play has been even more decisive. Critics call him a dirty player, decrying his emphatic checks and occasional open-ice hits, but his teammates say hes brilliant at toeing the line of legality. He exemplified that play in the Kings clinching victory of the Western Conference finals when he levelled Phoenixs Michal Rozsival at the blue line a moment after the play was whistled dead. Rozsival needed help getting to the locker room, and the Coyotes protested loudly -- but Brown didnt get a penalty, and Dustin Penner scored the series-winning goal on the ensuing shift. Coyotes captain Shane Doan chirped at Brown in the handshake line, and Doans teammates berated Brown after the game. NHL discipline chief Brendan Shanahan didnt even feel the hit warranted a hearing, much less supplemental discipline. Even those who insist Brown goes too far must acknowledge hes great at playing on the edge. "Youve got to try to go after guys, get guys off their game," Brown said. "Youve got to find a way. If theyre trying to go after me, thats good for us. I try to be hard on their top guys, and they try the same with us, but youve got to be better at it." Brown is willing to take punishment as well: Phoenixs Martin Hanzal boarded Brown in Game 2 of the conference finals, keeping the big forward out of Los Angeles victory in Game 3 under suspension. Opponents routinely attempt to respond to Browns fury with extracurricular hits, but the captain nearly always curbs his temper and avoids retaliation. In a game with as much pushing, shoving and after-the-whistle goonery as the NHL playoffs, thats a remarkable achievement. "Probably the most frustrating thing he does out of everything is when somebody will try to get him to fight and he just skates away," linemate Justin Williams said. "I know from firsthand experience that that can drive some guys crazy. Hes all about playing to the whistle and playing right on the edge, but none of that other stuff, which I admire." Brown began the playoffs splendidly, with four goals in the first three games of a five-game ouster of Presidents Trophy-winning Vancouver. Although Brown has never scored more than 60 points in an NHL regular season, he has remained a steady point contributor in the playoffs despite increased attention from defences. Browns leadership role isnt confined to the ice, either. On the road, he rooms with Drew Doughty, calling himself the rambunctious 22-year-old defencemans chaperone. It seems to be a comfortable role for Brown, whos just 27 himself. He and his wife, Nicole, already have three sons and a comfortable life in Los Angeles, where he lives nearly year-round. He also spends time around Ithaca, N.Y., where he grew up and learned the game before a three-year stint with the OHLs Guelph Storm. Los Angeles drafted Brown in the first round in 2003 and promoted him to the NHL immediately, but he didnt stick with the Kings until 2005. He got a lengthy contract extension in 2007 and the captaincy in October 2008, a month before his 24th birthday. A Stanley Cup ring would set him apart among captains in Kings history -- a list that includes Dave Taylor, Rob Blake and Wayne Gretzky. "I think hes been the same guy since I got here," said defenceman Rob Scuderi, who joined the Kings in 2009. "Certainly with some playoff experience, I think that over the past few years hes really taken a more active role in his responsibility of trying to set the tone and trying to set the pace for our team. I think hes done an excellent job." cheap ray ban . The team is set to compete in August in the biggest tournament of the Olympic quadrennial, and give their everything to wrestle for medals in London from August 8 to 12. Canada will be competing five days in London. Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses . Chipper Jones and Freddie Freeman hit two-run doubles, and the Atlanta Braves scored six runs in the first two innings to beat the Miami Marlins 6-1 on Thursday night. http://www.officialraybansun... .Y. -- Tickets for Buffalos "home" game against Seattle in Toronto have been reduced from past Bills contests at Rogers Centre. [url=http://www.officialraybansunglassesoutlet.com/]ray ban wayfarer sunglasses . -- Major League Baseball could start in-season testing for human growth hormone next year. ray ban outlet . -- Jorge Villafanas goal in the 69th minute snapped a 600-minute scoreless streak and also dealt a blow to FC Dallas playoff hopes as Chivas USA forged a 1-1 draw Sunday.MIAMI -- Starting, not starting, its irrelevant to Chris Bosh right now. Hes just happy to be playing again. Bosh said Saturday that he has no qualms with coming off the bench for the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, the same role he had in the previous two games. Bosh missed nine games with a strained lower abdominal muscle, after getting hurt in the opening game of Miamis second-round series against Indiana. Bosh played 14 minutes in Game 5 against the Celtics, then played 28 in Game 6 -- and Miami outscored Boston by 16 points when he was on the floor in that season-saving victory. "I think itll be irrelevant for as long as were playing," Bosh said Saturday when asked if the start-or-not issue affects him. "It really doesnt matter for me. I just want to be out there and as long as I get to play, it doesnt matter. I think we have a good thing going right now and Ill continue to come off the bench as long as its good. Im going to have my time out there with certain lineups and thats not going to change my approach and how I do things." Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did not change his lineup for Game 7, though he has raved about what Bosh has been able to do since returning from the abdominal injury. Miami started Shane Battier and Udonis p;Haslem alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers.dddddddddddd "He helped us win (Game 6)," Spoelstra said of Bosh. "Its an extreme situation, bringing somebody back in the middle of a very competitive conference finals. Hes very even-keeled in the mind. So if anybody can handle it, he can handle it." Bosh has been slotted at times to come in when Kevin Garnett goes out of the game for Boston. When the Celtics made a small run -- mainly by attacking the basket -- to get Game 6 within 10 points, Bosh checked in to help defend the rim. Boston never got the lead under that 10-point mark, and the Heat wound up eventually winning by 19. "Its not a normal rotation where youre slotting, OK, youre going to play this many minutes, youre going to come out and rest this many minutes," Spoelstra said. "Its on the fly." Bosh has never been part of a series that went seven games. And until this series, he hadnt come off the bench since his rookie season in Toronto. "I think were in a situation where Im not worried about watching my minutes or anything like that," Bosh said. "Just play the game. Whatever the game calls for, for me to play as minutes as possible, Im going to make sure I do it and be productive when Im out there. ' ' '