Danault, Durzi discuss friendship in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. Today, we feature Los Angeles Kings forward Phillip Danault and defenseman Sean Durzi.

Phillip Danault and Sean Durzi have a trade secret vital to their performance for the Los Angeles Kings.
Preparation for game night begins with a ritual of morning coffee and carpooling to the rink, the 30-year-old forward and 24-year-old defenseman bonded by hockey and fashion. Danault is the connoisseur behind a latte macchiato, a beverage of Italian origin made with espresso and steamed milk.
Exactly how they take it -- black, with milk, cream, half and half, one or two lumps, Sweet'n Low, Splenda, Sugar In The Raw -- neither were talking.
"Don't tell him how you make it," Durzi cautioned. "Otherwise, every team would have success like Phil, so we can't do that."
Danault and Durzi are key contributors a burgeoning organization with an ideal mix of youth and experience on the NHL roster. The Kings (33-20-8) are second in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights, entering the finale of a five-game road trip at the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, BSW, ESPN+, SN NOW). Though Durzi refused to tempt fate, he stopped short of saying the morning drive and Morning Joe is superstition.
"I don't think so," Durzi said. "I mean, maybe a little bit, but if something comes up, or he needs his car for something and we have to drive separate, we can do that and we can deal with it. It's honestly fun. It makes the game day a little bit better. It calms you down and gets you ready for the night. We always bring good vibes to our car ride and listen to some good music and go from there. It's just a routine."
Coffee was the only thing held sacred when Danault and Durzi spoke to NHL.com when they visited NHL headquarters in New York. They happily shared thoughts on friendship, fashion, retired Kings forward Dustin Brown and more.
"It's just the coffee," Durzi said. "It's the only secret we have."
"It's not just the coffee," Danault countered.

How did the bond develop since Sean joined the NHL as a rookie last season and Phillip signed with the Kings as a free agent?
Danault: "I could see the potential and his compete level. I was like, 'I'm going try to help this kid. I think he can grow his game really fast.' He was definitely a huge part of our success last year, so I wanted to take him under my wing, and we've become really good friends."
Durzi: "I just got called up. I knew a few guys from training camps and stuff, but I wasn't really friends with anyone. They were acquaintances and I crossed paths here and there. And then I was taking the highway to games in the carpool lane, normally, and everyone's like, 'You don't carpool?' I'm like, 'Oh, it's taking me forever to get to the games.' I think Phil asked me one day, 'Hey, how do you get to the games?' I said, 'I just been driving alone.' He says, 'Me too. You want to go together?' Ever since then, we've had a lot of time to talk.
"I think part of my game is confidence and having Phil kind of take me under his wing and show me the ropes of the League early on, it made me feel comfortable and confident my game. Just the car rides talking to him, knowing I have a friend to show up every day. A lot of credit to him to take in a young guy, not nervous, but just a timid player, and kind of helping me blossom and be myself and play my game."
Sean and Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki were teammates for Owen Sound and Guelph in the Ontario Hockey League from 2015-19. Phillip played with Suzuki in Montreal from 2019-21. Were you a mentor to him there and if so, is this something you're looking to recreate by taking Sean under your wing?
Danault: "I can't answer for Nick, but I thought the same thing as 'Durz.' As soon as Nick came in, I could see his compete level and a big part of a team he could be to help us winning right away. As a center too, he was a young center, you could tell how serious he was, how mature he was, and he had some captaincy in him. You could tell right away, too. I could say I try to help as much as I could."
How did you get into fashion?
Danault: "For me, personally, my wife (Marie-Pierre Fortin) is a big fashion girl, and she gave me that passion like I gave my hockey passion to her, so we can complete each other in that way. I started being very interested in fashion, suits, hats and everything, cuff links as well, diamonds, some of the stuff that she likes that I didn't have in my life. She wants the (Stanley) Cup, and I wanted the diamond, too."
Durzi: "Mine came from growing up and watching NHL players bring their own personality and style to games, and when they show up to a game and they're well-dressed and they're playing well, it's really cool. It's part of the NHL, the experience, so I just enjoy it. It's fun to kind of mix and match things and come in with new styles, maybe things that are a little bit flashy. Phil obviously outdoes me a little bit, but I try to do my best to compete with him."
Is it a competition?
Durzi: "Honestly, it's freakish. Some days I'll wear my black (tuxedo) and I show up to his house and he walks out of his house with it. It's not a competition, it's good fun. We both are just into it. I'll ask him here and there, where did you get this, and he introduced me to his tailor and things like that. But we never ask each other, what are you wearing today? We just show up and go with it."
P.K. Subban has a reputation for looking good. How much has he been an influence?
Durzi: "I was one of the guys who probably grew up watching his style and the way he went about things, his passion, so it was cool to see him play and then having the chance to show it off a little bit too, fashion all that stuff. I like to dress up. On a normal basis, though, I'm more of a casual comfort kind of guy, nothing flashy, and then game day kind of makes it up a little bit."

Switching gears to hockey, how cool was it seeing the Kings erect a statue of Dustin Brown. Has it sunk in that you played with a core member of the Stanley Cup championship teams in 2012 and 2014, a Kings institution who's immortalized forever next to 11 other honorees including Wayne Gretzky, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
Durzi: "You're almost starstruck when you first meet him. Playing video games growing up, in those years that they won, it was like nobody was allowed to be the Kings because they were that good in the game. It's unfair. I don't know what point it switched, but at some point, you just become friends. It's really cool to look back and see all the things and be happy that, wow, this is a legend, but at the same time you get to know the person and you're just happy for that person. I think that's what was special, being a part of it as his friend instead of just a fan or somebody watching along the way."
Danault: "It also showed the respect that the organization has for 'Brownie,' right away they gave him a statue and retired his jersey (No. 23), so a lot of respect for a legend that changed the hockey a little bit to bring the winning culture to LA"
The present and future is promising for the Kings. There's a championship core still intact and commanding respect, combined with young players continuing to evolve. How confident are you that you can earn a playoff berth?
Durzi: "You watch these guys; Phil can do it on a nightly basis, and I think that consistency is something that's probably most important in this league that I've learned so far. It's being able to bring it every night, like he does and like those other guys who have won. It doesn't matter how they're feeling, it doesn't matter if we played the night before, they're going to show up. They're going to bring it and they're going to be competing. So that's the biggest thing I can look up to. We always talk with the other guys, the young guys, about how lucky we are to have this core group and being able to look up to. Like my buddy Suzuki, he's had some great leaders, Phil, (Shea) Weber, (Carey Price), but he's figuring out [being] a young captain on his own, so we're privileged. All we can do is learn and try not to make the same mistake twice and try to get better every day. These guys lead the way for us."
Photo credit: LA Kings