April 13 morning skate quotes: Anze Kopitar

On the challenge presented by Ryan Getzlaf:
“He’s big and strong and obviously really good with the puck, so you’ve got to pay a little extra attention when he’s on the ice.”

On facing Getzlaf in the faceoff circle:
“Well, I mean there are a lot of good faceoff guys in the league, so it’s tough to point out. It just depends how you’re feeling that night on the dot, too. Hopefully tonight that’s not going to be the case and I can do fairly well against him.”

On whether his size is an asset in a matchup against Anaheim:
“Yeah, I think so. I think we match up against each other pretty well. They have some big bodies. We have some big bodies that can skate. They want to play a puck possession game, and we want to play the same thing. It’s going to be a lot of work, and I’m sure the game’s going to get pretty physical too, as it always does, and we’ll see what happens.”

On whether Los Angeles and Anaheim are similar teams:
“Maybe. I guess San Jose is like that, too. It should be a fun game tonight.”

On his former Mora IK teammates traveling from Sweden to attend tonight’s game:
“It’s nice. They’ve been in Anaheim for a few days now. Now they made it up the road, and they’re going to come to the game tonight. It’ll be nice to see them again.”

On whether WJC participants & Mora IK teammates Mikael Vikstrand and Tom Nilsson are attending:
“I think they’re both here, actually. I know Tommy Nilsson signed with Toronto, too. His first NHL contract, so that’s pretty nice.”

On if his former teammates will be rooting for Los Angeles or Bobby Ryan and Anaheim:
“I don’t know. We haven’t discussed that yet.”

On playing against Teemu Selanne:
“He’s a class act, definitely. He’s been in the league for forever now, and ever since I got here, I got the chance to play against him. I actually got the chance to meet him a few times too. He’s a great guy. I actually got a signed stick from him, too. I’m all set with that.”

On Selanne’s on-ice demeanor:
“He’s a little bit almost laid back. He’s super fast, and when he turns his jets on, it’s tough to catch him.”

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