Anze Kopitar by no means performed for an additional NHL group, and now no person else will put on No. 11 for the Los Angeles Kings. That half was apparent earlier than Friday’s announcement.
The statue was the one shock.
Los Angeles will retire Kopitar’s quantity and unveil his statue exterior Crypto.com Area on February 24, 2027. He’ll be a part of Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille and Dustin Brown as Kings gamers with statues exterior the constructing.
It’s a small group. Kopitar belongs in it.
Anze Kopitar did every little thing for the Kings
Kopitar spent 20 seasons in Los Angeles and performed 1,521 video games. Each are franchise data.
He additionally completed with 1,316 factors, passing Marcel Dionne throughout his closing season to develop into the main scorer in Kings historical past. His 864 assists are one other group document, whereas his 452 targets rank third.
That may be sufficient to justify retiring his quantity. Kopitar’s case goes effectively past a pile of statistics.
He helped the Kings win their first Stanley Cup in 2012 and one other in 2014. Throughout these runs, he produced offensively whereas going through lots of the greatest forwards on the opposite facet.
Loads of gamers can rating. Lots can defend. Kopitar made a 20-year profession out of doing each with out drawing a lot consideration to himself.
Perhaps that labored in opposition to him nationally. He performed on the West Coast, not often stated something controversial and by no means appeared inquisitive about changing into a star. Apparently, quietly controlling hockey video games doesn’t fill many debate-show segments.
Los Angeles knew what it had.
Kopitar gained two Selke Trophies and led the Kings in scoring 15 occasions. He ultimately turned captain and held the place for the ultimate 10 seasons of his profession.
The statue is greater than an additional honor
Retiring No. 11 was computerized. A statue says one thing completely different.
It locations Kopitar among the many individuals who formed the franchise reasonably than merely taking part in effectively for it. Gretzky introduced worldwide consideration to hockey in Los Angeles. Brown captained the 2 championship groups. Robitaille turned probably the most recognizable gamers in group historical past.
Kopitar helped flip the Kings into winners.
He was there earlier than the championships, stayed by means of the celebration and remained after the roster round him started to alter. There was no late-career tour with one other contender and no awkward season in a unique uniform.
Twenty years. One group. Two Stanley Cups.
The Kings didn’t must overthink this one. Fortunately, they didn’t.
