The latest of many An\u017ee Kopitar tributes, as he nears the end of two decades in a Los Angeles Kings jersey \u2014 with two Stanley Cup championships, individual trophies and many statistical milestones \u2014 came on Saturday after the Kings\u2019 final regular-season home game.<\/p>\n
But this tribute wasn\u2019t done for him. It was by him, to an adoring crowd at Crypto.com Arena that stuck around and hung on each word as it celebrated one of the greatest Kings players of all time instead of rushing out to battle the L.A. traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, on behalf of the whole team, the players, the organization, thank you guys for supporting us through, I guess, the good, the bad and the ugly,\u201d Kopitar said, choking up and becoming tearful as he spoke. \u201cYou guys have always been here and always had our heartbeat. Thank you. I guess, second of all, we\u2019re going to do our absolute best to come home for a couple more games in the playoffs, that\u2019s for sure. And then, from the bottom of my heart, thank you very much. This has been my home for 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, within the quiet of the dressing room, Kopitar, the Kings\u2019 38-year-old captain, acknowledged that while he did think about his speech throughout the afternoon, he couldn\u2019t remember the words of that moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be completely honest with you, I don\u2019t know what I said,\u201d he said. \u201cI kind of blacked out. I know there was a bunch of thank-yous in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being the center of attention isn\u2019t one of Kopitar\u2019s natural instincts. It is deserved, though. He has the most points in Kings franchise history. He won two championships, two Selke trophies, three Lady Byng trophies. He set multiple team records as he became Slovenia\u2019s first NHL product \u2014 and its greatest.<\/p>\n
Kopitar announced on the opening day of Kings training camp that this would be his final season. Throughout it, many opponents honored him in handshake lines, immediately after a 60-minute (or more, in many cases) fight for two points.<\/p>\n
It was the ultimate sign of respect.<\/p>\n
\n Opponents regularly lined up to salute Kopitar after games this season. (Maddie Meyer \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSometimes, obviously, it\u2019s not an ideal time because we\u2019re trying to take each other\u2019s head off in the game and then after that you\u2019re shaking hands with them,\u201d Kopitar said. \u201cBut I appreciate the recognition, the respect and everything. Again, sometimes it\u2019s hard because a team has to lose, right? Maybe I\u2019m not in the best mood. Maybe they\u2019re not in the best mood. I think it just shows that it\u2019s better than just the game. It\u2019s the respect toward your peers. And it\u2019s been pretty cool. It\u2019s been overwhelming to say the least. I\u2019ve enjoyed it.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a ton of respect for every guy that I\u2019ve obviously played against. I guess to show that in a way that the teams are showing towards me is very, very humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n Kopitar isn\u2019t done yet. The Kings have three more road games, starting Monday night in Seattle, and are in position for a wild-card playoff spot. But the end is nearing. The Athletic<\/em> spoke to notable individuals from Kopitar\u2019s past and present to get a sense of his impact on them and on the sport of hockey.<\/p>\n I first saw An\u017ee in his draft year. He was 17 years old and it was toward the end of the season in 2005. He played in the men\u2019s World Championships with Slovenia and I went over to Austria. The tournament was there and their pool was playing up in Innsbruck, so I took the train up and watched a couple of games. He was the best player on their team when he was 17 years old. Scored against Finland in that tournament and just a real strong two-way player.<\/p>\n Through the summer, he moved rapidly up our draft list and then when we went to the combine in Buffalo and had a chance to speak with him. In my 30 years doing that side of the game, probably the most impressive interview I\u2019ve ever sat in. When he comes in the room, he\u2019s physically imposing. He\u2019s big and strong and powerful. He was from Slovenia so we weren\u2019t sure what to expect but his English is better than mine and he talked like a coach. I know his dad was a coach for many years and his dad played and his brother played, so he came from a hockey background, a hockey family. Was just so professional and so composed.<\/p>\n We had high expectations. We really liked him as a player, and we felt we were drafting a true No. 1 center. And I think when you do that and a player is 17, turning 18, you hope they could play for 10 years. Nobody dreamed he\u2019d be playing for 20 years. I had an opportunity to play with Marcel Dionne for a lot of years. Marcel\u2019s numbers seemed like they were out of reach for anybody in Los Angeles, but An\u017ee over 20 years ends up with more career points than Marcel had. It\u2019s amazing to me.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve had so many amazing moments with Kopi, on the ice, off the ice. I can\u2019t even put my finger on one moment. Just the one thing that\u2019s always amazed me about him is how level his head stays at all times. He doesn\u2019t get too low, he doesn\u2019t get too high, he just stays level. And I\u2019m the exact opposite. Always looked up to him for that. And if I needed someone to talk to, he\u2019s always been there for someone to talk to, to keep me level-headed. But I\u2019ve always been amazed that he can do that.<\/p>\n Obviously, in my opinion, he would be the greatest to ever do it. But I didn\u2019t see a lot of those guys play back in the day, so I can\u2019t really say it. Best player I\u2019ve ever played with. Will probably be the best player I have ever played with, no matter what happens. I\u2019m very thankful to be right beside him for a lot of his career. Be sad to see him go.<\/p>\n We were coming up in development camp together. I think it was his first camp after he was drafted. The Kings were trying to sign me. I remember getting an email from him when he went back home, and it was like, \u201cMan, this kid is impressive.\u201d He\u2019s just such a professional. And I was older than him. It was impressive to me and throughout the years seeing him, running into him, all the success he\u2019s had \u2014 how great he is. How many heads he turned in that development camp and then in his rookie season where they probably expected to put him in Manchester. And he was their first-line center.<\/p>\n Nothing else ever really changed with him and his humility. It\u2019s no secret as to why he\u2019s so revered and I just always appreciated his game. I could go on and on about how good of a hockey player he was. He never changed as a person. Great competitor and you see the consistency that he\u2019s had in his game for so many years. It\u2019s who he is as a person. He\u2019s had that since a very young age and it\u2019s always impressed me just how humble he is, how inclusive he is and how easy he was to just to be around. He\u2019s a superstar.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure other players have said it, but I\u2019m bummed out it\u2019s his last year. I wish he kept going because he can. As a 35-, 36-, 37-year-old or a 19-, 20-year-old, he\u2019s the same guy. People are going to gravitate toward him. There\u2019s a leadership quality there. He\u2019s a guy you want to be around and soak up whatever superpowers he\u2019s given off to try to be more like him.<\/p>\n \n Jonathan Quick and Kopitar formed a tight bond as longtime teammates. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea \/ Imagn Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n (I remember) the amount of time we spent together and played together. He\u2019s family. His wife\u2019s family. The kids are family. You spend that much time with a guy and go through the ups and downs that this league throws at you and he\u2019s been alongside me the whole ride. It\u2019s us. He is special to me and my family.<\/p>\n Obviously, from the fans\u2019 perspective, they see him play hockey all the time and how amazing he is on the ice. I consider myself lucky to know him away from the game and how great of a person and teammate he is. He\u2019s a guy that you\u2019ll keep in touch with the rest of your life.<\/p>\n You think about what he\u2019s done over his career and that role that he\u2019s filled. He\u2019s been a first-line center for 20 years. He\u2019s been elite both offensively and defensively. And he\u2019s a huge reason that we\u2019re able to have the success that we had.<\/p>\n To this day, he\u2019s still a guy who produces but he\u2019s also a guy that\u2019s really responsible. Wants to take care of his own end. Plays against other team\u2019s top guys. It\u2019s a lot of respect for him as a person, as a player. What he\u2019s accomplished, he\u2019s probably one of the most underrated guys out there for what he\u2019s done and the career that he\u2019s had. It\u2019s always a challenge going up against him.<\/p>\n You know, from going up against guys night to night, what challenges that they present. He\u2019s obviously a threat to score against you and you\u2019ve got to be willing to compete that way on that side of the ice. But even to produce against him, I think he\u2019s a guy that takes a lot of pride in (his defense). He\u2019s obviously won and knows what it takes. Know that that\u2019s a big part of the game, too.<\/p>\n He\u2019s always had a mature game, even from when he first came in. He wasn\u2019t one of those guys who had to kind of grow into it. He\u2019s someone who\u2019s always been a pretty big force physically and he\u2019s used his size to his advantage. Really at both ends of the ice. Definitely a guy that you feel it when he leans on you, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n He\u2019s meant so much to this organization and just to myself as well. He\u2019s taught me a ton, but the one thing I take away is just his whole demeanor. He stays never too high, never too low. It\u2019s a clich\u00e9 but he\u2019s always just even keel and level-headed. That\u2019s something that I can get better at and something that I\u2019ve learned from, what I\u2019m working on, too.<\/p>\n He does everything well. I\u2019ve never seen a guy pick up passes better than him, either. Backhand, forehand. Faceoffs. He does it all. Nobody can touch it from him when he has the puck, shielding the pill. Defense, offense. He has everything covered. Penalty kill, power play. That\u2019s the guy.<\/p>\n I think something Kopi always does for me is, my family\u2019s not here for some of the Thanksgivings, some of those big holidays. He always invites me over. I\u2019m always appreciative of that. When we were over there last year, I think it was me and Spenny (Jordan Spence). Luka Don\u010di\u0107 came by. That was a good one. It was unbelievable.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a great player. He kind of hides under the radar. Listen, everybody in the hockey world knows who he is. Knows he\u2019s had an unbelievable career. He\u2019s going to be a Hall of Famer. But you kind of go under the radar a little bit in the West. If he\u2019s in Toronto or Boston, Chicago, New York, he is going to be all over the place. Bergy (Patrice Bergeron) is probably the best two-way player to ever play the game, and Kopitar is right behind him. He\u2019s an unbelievable two-way player. The fact that he\u2019s still producing the way he is extremely impressive.<\/p>\n I see a lot of similarities between him and (Aleksander) Barkov. Big guys. Very steady, both ends of the ice. That\u2019s why they won a couple Cups. He\u2019s such a big part of that and being competitive for so long because of his leadership and the way that he plays the game. Unfortunately for him, he was competing all those years against Bergy. When you\u2019re playing against a guy like that who is at the highest level and, like I said, the best of all time to do it, sometimes you just take a back seat and it doesn\u2019t mean that he\u2019s not one of the greatest to ever do it. In sports, it\u2019s unfortunate that he and Bergy were doing at the same time. It would have been great to see him do it before or after so they each have their time to shine and be the guy.<\/p>\n Everyone in the hockey world loves (Kopitar) and knows him. He\u2019s had an incredible career. He\u2019s got 1,200, 1,300 points, something crazy like that. When you have a guy that\u2019s that responsible but also that much of a threat, that makes it very difficult all over the ice because you\u2019re never going to get easy plays. You\u2019re not going to get any easy plays to the net. You\u2019re not going to get easy rushes. And then on the flip side, if you cheat, he\u2019s going to make you pay. He\u2019s just a great player kind of all throughout the game.<\/p>\n Obviously, he means a lot for the sporting side, but I don\u2019t judge him on what he does on the ice. It\u2019s what kind of dad he is, what kind of husband, what kind of brother he\u2019s become. He moved here when he was, what, 19, and just to see him grow into different roles throughout his life is just \u2014 I\u2019ve said it many times. Yes, his hockey\u2019s great. He\u2019s a great hockey player and everything. But I\u2019m more proud of the man he\u2019s become. The father that he is, the husband that he is.<\/p>\n He moved as a 16-year-old away from home to Sweden, so that will either make you or break you. It made him into a human, into an adult. Basically, a mature adult. He hasn\u2019t changed a whole bunch. Still the same guy. Still likes to have fun. Great hockey player but an even better person.<\/p>\n Super proud of him. Twenty years is a long time \u2014 1,500 whatever games it is, that\u2019s a lot of everything. Dedicated everything that he had. It\u2019s super cool to see that people do appreciate it and, I mean, they\u2019ve had a long successful run here, too. Hopefully they get in (the playoffs) and they can write something like what it was in 2012 again. That\u2019d be a nice send-off.<\/p>\n Kopi is the whole package. I think I know how he was before he won, but now I really understand him after he won. He\u2019s all about winning, and it\u2019s not about him winning a trophy or him winning a scoring championship. It\u2019s about the group being able to win with him. You know he sacrifices things, his own personal accomplishments, so teams can win.<\/p>\n You hear that about championship captains and leaders all the time, and Kopi personifies that. Really intelligent player. He gets the game. He understands all the intangibles. Momentum, fatigue. Little things about puck management. Quite easy to coach. Pleasure to coach.<\/p>\n As I said many times, I\u2019ve respected his game since he came in the league. I think his game has matured and grown. It\u2019s been a pleasure to watch. For me, a pleasure to share the ice with him and play against him. We had some battles, but I think there\u2019s mutual respect. He\u2019s a special player and a special person.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I need to say this but he\u2019s a sure-shot Hall of Famer. I hope he gets it. Because for me, there\u2019s no question that he should. In this generation, he is one of the top players that I can think of that has had the impact that he\u2019s had. I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re watching if you don\u2019t think that he\u2019s up there.<\/p>\n You hesitate to compare him to (Wayne) Gretzky, but guys who make huge impacts in an area like this that wasn\u2019t the traditional hockey market, I think he\u2019s definitely up there. A guy that I watched when I was younger (growing up in Southern California). Just a great person, role model and really done a lot for Southern California hockey.<\/p>\n It was really exciting when they drafted him. He was a guy who I remember his first game, big goal against Anaheim. Yeah, he was the guy who you felt kind of could change a franchise, and he did, so that was really cool. I\u2019ve said this before. They say don\u2019t meet your heroes. Kopi \u2014 he is who you think he\u2019s going to be. He\u2019s just a good person and a great role model and I\u2019ve been really lucky to play with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDave Taylor<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Former Kings GM (drafted Kopitar in 2005)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Drew Doughty<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Kings teammate (2008-current)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Brian Boyle<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Kings teammate (2005-09)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Anze](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/04\/12203149\/USATSI_19300370-1-scaled-e1776040328360.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJonathan Quick<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Kings teammate (2005-23)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Sidney Crosby, <\/strong>Pittsburgh Penguins<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Quinton Byfield<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Kings teammate (2020-current)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins\/Florida Panthers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Ga\u0161per Kopitar<\/strong><\/h2>\n
An\u017ee\u2019s younger brother<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Todd McLellan<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Kings coach (2019-24)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Patrice Bergeron, former Boston Bruins center<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Trevor Moore<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Kings teammate (2020-current)<\/strong><\/h3>\n