Anze Kopitar scored two goals to help his “Team Lidstrom” to an 11-10 victory over “Team Staal” in today’s NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C. Kopitar scored his team’s first goal, with 9:10 remaining in the first period, after it had fallen into a 4-0 deficit. Then, Kopitar’s second goal, with 9:52 remaining in the second period, helped pull the Lidstrom team within 6-5. Lidstrom’s team scored three consecutive goals in the middle part of the third period to take a two-goal lead, then held on late. Officially, Kopitar played 16 minutes, 10 seconds, the most ice time out of any forward on his team (and second among all forwards in the game, behind hometown player Eric Staal), and had three shots on goal and a plus-2 rating and went 6 for 13 in the faceoff circle. Not a bad day at all… Chicago’s Patrick Sharp, who had one goal and two assists, was named game MVP. Here’s a cool picture of Kopitar’s first goal:
I’m surprised Sidney Crosby wasn’t named the All Start MVP, but I guess Sharp is a good second choice given the constraints.
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Dom Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
@5buckcolonnadeticket, really?
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I voted 10 times for Kopi, and he got robbed.
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Dominick Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
@LAK1ngs, That’s becuase some Idiot in Chicago voted for sharp 100 times.
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vicarious Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
@Dominick, Not much else to do when you are sitting in the vaunted Chicago traffic.
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Paul G Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
@LAK1ngs, as great of fans we r…we tend not to waste out time with voting for pointless things (cough CHI and PIT fans cough)
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Great showing! A lot of players were impressed by him this weekend. Something we have always known. Keep it up!
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Great stuff by Kopi. I didn’t realize he had the most ice time out of their forwards. I thought he didn’t get enough ice time, but I guess I’m a little biased. I think if his wingers had finished off several of Kopi’s setup passes, he would have gotten MVP. Still, he represented us well. Go Kings!!
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Arron Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
@KingsKnight,
I didn’t think he got enough ice time either. I kept wondering why Stamkos kept getting double shifted but Richardson also wore 91.
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johnjuan Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
@KingsKnight,
Totally agree!
I thought he kept giving great passes and stealing pucks right and left.
When they announced the MVP the camera was trained on him and it went to Sharp.
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Dominick Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
@KingsKnight, He had a shift where I thought he was out there for a 1/4 of the 3rd. Nice feed to create the breakaway that Ovie threw his stick on.
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Munchrat Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 10:22 am
@TinaBeana, Indeed he was. As the final buzzer sounded in the 3rd he was handed a nice pass into the middle with an empty net…
Now if he would only start producing like that for us!!!!
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I voted 173 times kopi got jacked, they give it to a guy who scored 1 goal and had 2 assist’s on a loseing team.and played no significant roll in any momentom shift, kopi scores, now 3 strait goals to tie in the first. Down by 2 kopi scores again, the team scores 2 more to take the lead by 1. But kopi played like a champ, he made us all proud. He was a inch from a hat trick, ovi who ?
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Was hoping the coaches would give him more of a chance out there for the empty-net than he got, but then again, he was out there with the game on the line and didn’t allow Staal’s team to score. Remember, defense wins championships!
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Kings in CO Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
@Kingme20, I thought the same thing about the open net…..
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Our boy just came up short from scoring a hat trick. Kings get robbed again by the NHL. Kopi should of got MVP, but NO. Sharp got it. A cup champion. Our days are coming soon. All and all the game was put on well. The fans seemed to enjoy it, so for that, we can give them a thumbs up.
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As much as I feel that the NHL is going in the right direction with its marketing, they really dropped the ball on the All-Star game MVP award. They had a wonderful opportunity to market an up and coming superstar in Anze Kopitar and they gave it to Patrick Sharp? I don’t understand how they can give it to a player on the losing team who didn’t completely dominate the game. I could understand if Sharp scored like 5 goals and had three assist, but he didn’t. The NHL could have marketed thee people in my opinion that were deserving. I feel that along with Kopitar, Shea Weber could have been the MVP. He played very well and was involved in a lot of the game. Also, Louie Erkison had two goals, although one was an empty-netter. I feel like this letting the fans decide is getting out of hand. What a wasted opportunity to have lesser known players shine. Kopitar and Weber are great players and their names should have been recognized more by the league after tonight’s All-Star game. I don’t understand it.
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friarking Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
@Will, I would have given it to Lidstrom. He was a plus 7, had 2 assists, and was the teams GM.
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Will Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
@friarking, He would not have been a bad choice, but again, I was looking to market a player who doesn’t have their name known to the masses. Shea Weber and Kopitar are two great players who are not being marketed by the NHL.
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I thought Kopi held his own, but Weber should of been the MVP, too bad +/- isn’t even considered a legitimate stat at the all stars.
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puck73 Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
@Dominick, Weber dominates the way Rob Blake used to do. He does it with great skating and clean rough hitting…NOTICE I SAID, CLEAN, ROUGH HITTING…DID YA HEAR THAT SCOTT STEVENS!
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Goring 19 Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
@puck73, Scott who?-Eric Lindros
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Way to go Kopi. Now Kings keep up the win streak……beat the Wild until there colors are black and blue!!!!!!!!!
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Kopi gave a good showing..his first goal was pure skill….head fake… and roofed it.
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Kopi is in the leagues top players, no doubt. Could you imagine if he and Brown got a proven goal scoring left winger?? Trading deadline is coming and look out, I feel the Kings will make a move with all the unrestricted free agents next year.
This will be great, next year Kings sit atop the league all season and make the deep, real deep playoff run.
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Lafan13 Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
@Harty, All the ufa??? There’s like 1 dude worth grabbing, Richards and we don’t need another center…. Semin was resigned last week… And I think Parise is Rfa so there goes that idea
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puck73 Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
@Harty, Elias could be had for a 2nd or 3rd rounder. Obviously he is not a permanent solution at 35, but he leads New Jersey in scoring and his experience could really help Kopi, and the Kings down the stretch.
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src Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 3:55 am
@puck73,
He wont wave his NTC. Has been asked. There wont be anyone in the UFA phase. Maybe Leino. Dont see him as the missing link. Looks like Penner is the only viable option at this point. Not sure I like that. Would kinda like to see what Parse is capable av.
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Very cool picture, but from that angle Kopitar’s stick is CLEARLY above the crossbar. I can’t believe they let that count….
Signed,
Still Annoyed
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grega11 Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
@Mel Powell,
thank you for a good laugh
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Kopitar had really long shifts, im amazed people thought he didnt play enough. Great game i would have given the mvp to Lidstrom, Briere or Kopitar myself. Sharp didnt seem that noticable to me after the first period. Either way the allstar weekend wasnt that bad all, i actually enjoyed some of it.
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SO……Kopi scores 20% of the winning team’s goals and isn’t even name one of the game’s stars, much less the MVP??????
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Leave it to Kopitar to excel in a non-contact game.
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Cristobal Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:49 am
@Capt Jam,
I don’t get it.
The KID hasn’t missed a game in 300+ games and came back into the game earlier this season after having his mouth extended from a high stick.
I said it 3 years ago and still believe it: kopi is the best player in the world.
Complete package.
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Capt Jam Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 11:51 am
@Cristobal,
He’s far from a complete package. The ASG draft order should show that to Kings fans. Players know who the best players are, and Kopi being picked in the 15th round should be a red flag to all of us.
Kopi hasn’t missed a game because he doesn’t spend much time in the full contact areas in front of the net and rarely lays the body on anyone deliberately. Instead, you’ll find Kopi hugging the boards when he has the puck, wasting our power play time while he waits for the opposition to open up a passing lane for him. Joe Thornton, he’s not. If we could infuse Dustin Brown’s guts and heart with Kopi’s skill, then we’d have the complete player. Instead, we have two borderline second/third liners masquerading as first liners.
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Cristobal Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 1:16 pm
@Capt Jam,
That is outrageous.
Best 2 way player in the league. Hands down. Kopi could play any position and do it at an elite level.
The ASG draft is a basis for judging him? I don’t think so. Besides the fact that you have to draft goalies and defenders by certain rounds, the entire thing is just a publicity stunt which didn’t even include Pavol Datsyuk or Zetterberg.
Marc Stall is an all-star?
Kopi never gets physical contact?
I don’t even know why I’m debating this with you. I feel dirty.
Lvhatrick Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 2:54 pm
You are not really watching him that closely then. He is extremely strong on the puck. It takes defenders a great amount of effort to contain him. That is a very rare and valuable trait even more so then actual scoring.
Was seriously hoping they’d give Kopi the chance for the hat trick with the empty netter but hey, 2 goals aint bad. I like what Cam Ward said after Kopi scored:”I’m glad I only have to face him once a year” Good compliment.
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Sharp is a kings killer that is why he got the nod over kopi
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I think this proves how much the kings playing style and coaching is hurting kopis performance. If hes allowed to do his own thing and has the right coaching I think he could easily be top guy in nhl or one of them
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JGSmall Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:28 am
@jason, In the All-Star game there is little or no defense and there is little or no traffic. How many three on ones did you see? All of these players have the talent to eat up a goalie when unobstructed. This was an exhibition of talent. Did you see one play where a forward was denied access to the crease? Or where they abused it and crashed? Or where they stood in front to create traffic? Don’t read anything into this game and just enjoy it for the exhibition of skills that it is designed to be.
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No respect. Kopi scores twice, leads team in ice time and the yahoo headline reads “Brier’s two goals leads team Lidstrom to victory”. Kopi was not even mentioned. We will just have to show the east that there are players in the west.
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Vahe Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:38 am
@old codger, 5 out of 6 goalies came from the east..Ya there is no east coat bias..
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coast*
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Also agree for MVP, did you see him play D? I counted 3 takeaways in 1 shift!… Between that and a 2 goals… robbed.
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I wouldn’t trade Kopi for any player in the league. His strength on the puck is really something special.
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I don’t know why you guys expected Kopi to get it. Yea he scored two goals and picked off a few passes, but he’s not figuratively or literally on the right coast. The only way he would have won is if he completed the hat-trick with a goalie in net and had an assist or two. Otherwise it would go to someone from a hockey market.
I thought you guys would be used to this. I like the fact that he and the Kings are being underestimated. He is a spectacular 2-way centerman with great hands and a really good shot. He is not a sniper, he is not a power forward that crushes people with hits, he is not a gritty crease guy either. He is the type of player you build your first line around. he is a great play-maker.
If the Kings had a legit 1LW they would be on the inside looking out. And unless DL pulls the trigger and pays with some really, really, really good prospects and picks, the wheel-o-left-wingers will continue.
Good job Kopi! Now go kick some Wild ***!
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I can live with Kopi not getting the MVP. It sucks but it’s to be expected with the way the NHL is running things.
What I cannot fathom is the complete media blackout on Kopi’s performance. The kid played his heart out on Sunday and turned in a magnificent performance. And yet, I can count on one hand the number of mentions he’s gotten in articles on the game. It’s outrageous.
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