Kings To Honor Anze Kopitar on January 24

It’ll be Anze Kopitar Night, but I’ve got LeBron James meme vibes this morning.

Not 1, Not 2, Not 3…….

It is four, though.

The LA Kings will honor captain Anze Kopitar on January 24 for a collection of four milestones he achieved in the early part of the season, listed below –

– He is now the Kings franchise leader in regular season games played (he surpassed Dustin Brown’s then-record of 1,296 games on October 21).
– He scored the 400th career goal of his career on November 8 at Vegas; 400 goals is an NHL Milestone.
– He is now second on the Kings franchise list in points (trailing only Dionne, Kopitar surpassed Luc Robitaille’s 1,154 points with the Kings on November 9).
– He is now the Kings franchise leader in assists (he surpassed Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne’s then-record of 757 assists on December 3).

A busy October through November for the Slovenian forward!

First and foremost was the franchise leader in regular-season games played mark, as he passed his good friend Dustin Brown at the top of that list. Brown set the record himself a few years back, though Kopitar was racking up the games right alongside him. A year and a half after Brown retired, Kopitar claimed one from his friend and has since surpassed the 1300-games played mark, all in a Kings jersey. It’s a record he holds alone for now, and one he’ll likely continue to hold for the foreseeable future.

“It might take a little bit more than just one night to set in,” Kopitar said with a smile after that game. “I mean, it’s obviously a great accomplishment and it’s a little bittersweet, because I’m taking it from my very good buddy who called me old, and I will somewhat agree with him.”

It’s probably hard to consider any part of Kopitar’s game underrated, seeing as the Kings are honoring him for a quarter of milestones. But, if there is one, it’s been his goalscoring. Yet, here Kopitar stands with 404 career NHL goals, hitting number 400 in Vegas last month. With 11 goals from 26 games played, Kopitar ranks second on the Kings this season and he’s not showing many signs of slowing down.

“I think he does so many of the other things so well that he doesn’t get enough recognition for putting the puck over the goal line,” Todd McLellan said of Kopitar’s scoring abilities. “Maybe we just take it for granted. He’s just an automatic for somewhere in the 20s to 30s in goals and the first time we would really focus on it, is if it didn’t happen. He’s consistently delivered, so there’s not much talk about it.”

Lastly, it’s the playmaking abilities. Kopitar became the all-time franchise leader in assists and moved into second place all-time in points, surpassing Luc Robitaille, trailing only Marcel Dionne. Kopitar’s recognition regularly comes from his overall, 200-foot, two-way game. That includes the offensive side, where he’s clearly one oft he greats in not only franchise history, but NHL history. He’s always been more of a set-up man, connecting a time or two with Brown over the years, and it’s unsurprising to see him rack up more assists than anyone else has in a Kings jersey.

“It feels great, like a few of them before, it will take some time to set in, but you look at that list and the names that are on there, it makes it very surreal to just be on the same page with those guys,” Kopitar said of the assists record. “Now, passing them, it’s very surreal and a very humbling feeling.”

The Kings will honor Kopitar on January 24, as a part of a pre-game ceremony at Crypto.com Arena, before the Kings host the Buffalo Sabres. The ceremony and game will be broadcast on Bally Sports West and the LA Kings iHeart Audio Network, with special pre-game shows on both. All fans in attendance at that night’s game will receive a commemorative poster featuring Kopitar. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats early. Those interested in purchasing tickets, which are 11 percent off through Saturday at 9:00 AM, can do so HERE.

Kings are on the ice here this morning, as they look to put a halt to a three-game losing streak. Will have more on that coming up later on this afternoon, as players and coaches react to what has gone wrong, and how the team is approaching fixing it.