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Kings’ Doughty cleared to resume hockey activities

By Helene Elliott
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Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi is known for his long and sometimes long-winded responses to questions, but his one-word response to an inquiry about defenseman Drew Doughty’s status was eloquent.

‘Cleared.’

Doughty, one of the cornerstones of the franchise, suffered a concussion Oct. 20 in a collision with Carolina’s Erik Cole and had suffered a few setbacks last week when he resumed skating. However, late Tuesday he was cleared by team medical personnel to return to all hockey activities.

That means he is likely to practice all-out on Wednesday, without the yellow, no-contact jersey he had been wearing, and will be activated off injured reserve in time to play Thursday against Tampa Bay at Staples Center.

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The Kings are 4-2 without Doughty, but they can only be better with his booming shot and physical play. Thursday’s game will match the NHL’s top two teams: the Kings are 8-3-0 and the Lightning is 7-2-1.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

--Helene Elliott

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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