Hands down, the most beloved player in Los Angeles Kings franchise history has to be future Hall of Famer, forward Anze Kopitar.
While a strong argument could be made for past Kings stars such as Hall of Fame forwards Luc Robitaille, Marcel Dionne or Wayne Gretzky, it has to be the 38-year-old Kopitar who was drafted by the Kings 11th overall in 2005, and did something that those three players didn’t do in playing his entire 20-year career with the Kings.
Kopitar Passes Dionne as Kings All-Time Leading Scorer
Kopitar, affectionately known as “Kopi,” “Flowpitar” and “Raccoon Jesus,” also accomplished something that Robitaille, Dionne and Gretzky couldn’t do as a King and that’s help them win the Stanley Cup. In fact Kopitar is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who on Saturday, March 14th put his name in the Kings franchise record book.
Heading towards the finishing line of a Hall of Fame career, Kopitar is going out with a bang as he made history on March 14th, when his two power-play goals during a 6-4 loss at Prudential Center against the New Jersey Devils leap-frogged the long time King’s captain past Dionne as the Kings’ all-time leading scorer with 1.308 points (450 goals, 858 assists).
Entering Saturday’s game trailing Dionne by one point, Kopitar tied him with a second-period power-play goal before officially breaking Dionne’s 45-year record at 13:42 of the third period with his second power-play marker of the night.
“I imagine I’d feel a lot better if we finished it off and won the game,” Kopitar said. “I mean, we’re right in the thick of things right now, so there’s not a whole lot of time to think about (the record).”
Another reason for Kopitar’s immense popularity in Los Angeles is that he accomplished something else that Gretzky, Dionne and Robitaille couldn’t do as a King and that’s win a Stanley Cup.
Kopitar played a vital role by producing 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) during the 2012 playing to help the Kings win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Two years later, this future Hall of Famer registered 26 points (5 goals, 21 assists) in helping them win the 2014 Stanley Cup.
Proof of this legend’s popularity was evident when Kopitar was honored with a statute of himself, which stands at the Staples Center.
Dionne was Pulling For Kopitar To Break His Record
It’s pretty evident that Dionne is a big fan of Kopitar. This season, throughout Kopitar’s pursuit of the record, Dionne had been keeping close tabs and couldn’t give enough praise after his record for highest point producer in Kings franchise history was officially broken.
“If I had a team, I’d know that I never have to worry about Kopitar, about the kind of effort he’d bring to the rink and how he works at both ends of the ice,” Dionne, who played with the Kings from 1975-87 said. As a King, Dionne played 921 games where he scored 550 goals and 757 assists.
It was back on February 7, 1981, when Dionne became the Kings all-time leading point producer when his two goals in a 4-4 draw against the Washington Capitals leap-frogged him past Butch Goring‘s 669 points, to claim top spot.
Dionne, who was drafted in 1971, 2nd overall by the Detroit Red Wings, went on to play for the Wings, Kings and New York Rangers during his Hall of Fame career.
Kopitar Received Big Ovation For His 1,500th game
Kings fans had an opportunity to shower Kopitar with love when back on Thursday, March 5th at Crypto.com arena he became the first ever Kings player and the 25th in NHL history to play 1,500 career games which came in a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders.
To show just how popular he is, Kopitar’s teammates marked the occasion by wearing specialized teammates marking the occasion and fans gave him a thunderous ovation as they marked the occasion with a video tribute to mark the accomplishment.
“I’m very honored to be part of this team, this organization, for this long,” Kopitar said. “And obviously we had some thin years and some winning years. So it’s been good so far. And I’m looking forward, obviously, to playing out in these 22, 20, whatever games we got left and see where that takes us.”
In this milestone game, Kopitar played over 25 minutes and not only earned an assist but played his usual strong two-way game.
Kopitar’s popularity and on-ice production will no doubt lead to not only his number being retired but also a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Main Image: James Guillory-Imagn Images
