The Los Angeles Kings beat the Central Division leading Minnesota Wild by the score of 4-1 on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena, but one of the major highlights was veteran captain Anze Kopitar playing in his 1,400 regular-season NHL game all with the Kings. Kopitar is the first player to accomplish this incredible milestone with the franchise. It was also his 700th career home game. Kopitar became just the 11th player all-time to reach 1,400 games played with one team.
After the game, Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper praised Kopitar. “To play that many games and to be playing at that level he is playing at, he is our leader on and off the ice,” said Kuemper. “He plays the game the right way his whole career. You think of him as a defensive player and then you look at how many points he has in his career. It’s pretty incredible what he has achieved. There’s not many guys that have achieved what he has.”
Kopitar has consistently been the important example of what it takes to be effective at both ends of the ice with his offensive skills and defensive reliability. He has set this example his entire career for the Kings from the day his was drafted in 2005. “We’re pretty fortunate to be able to witness in real time what we’re witnessing out of him,” said head coach Jim Hiller. “To do it for how as long as he’s done it is unbelievable,” forward Alex Laferriere chimed in. “He’s definitely a once in a lifetime player and I’m just lucky to be able to learn from him.”
Laferriere has been mentored by captain Kopitar since he was a rookie last season. The Kings added some players to the team, like Phillip Danault, to help carry the torch for Kopitar in case age and Father Time slowed him down, but Kopitar seems to be getting better every season like fine wine. He is special. Not only is Kopitar centering the team’s top forward line but he’s leading the Kings in scoring this season so far. He has 31 total points at age 37 years after 27 games is phenomenal.
Because the Kings have such good depth on their roster this season, Kopitar can play less minutes and get the well-needed rest for situations where the best players need to be on the ice, like for power plays.
In the post-game press conference after the game against the Wild, Hiller also mentioned that he had a conversation with former Kings head coach Darryl Sutter who was in attendance. Sutter was the skipper during the Kings two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014. They spoke about Kopitar. “He (Sutter) came to the coaches room and I said, “what do you think of Kopi? He’s had him more than anybody who’s coached him, so a lot of respect there from Darryl to Kopi.” The Kings are enjoying a five-game winning streak heading into a long upcoming road trip and captain Kopitar will continue to impressively steer the ship.