Anže Kopitar
Anže Kopitar ( born August 24, 1987 in Jesenice, SR Slovenia) is a Slovenian ice hockey player standing since 2006 with the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League contract. His father Matjaž was also a professional hockey player and now works as a coach.
- 2.1 International
- 3.1 International
Career
Kopitar learned to play hockey in Slovenia, the HD mladi Jesenice, for whom he played between 2002 and 2004 in the Slovenian Junior League. At the same time he came into the men's team of the partner team HK HIT Casino Kranjska Gora in the Slovenian Hockey League, the Državno Prvenstvo, used. 2004, at the age of 17, he decided a change to Sweden, where he played first for the juniors of Södertälje SK. At the end of the season 2004 /05 he made his debut also for the men's team of the same club in the Elitserien. Due to the benefits shown, the scouts from North America were aware of him, so that Kopitar was selected as the first European of the NHL Entry Draft in 2005 by the Los Angeles Kings. In summer 2005, Kopitar took part in a rookie training camp of the Kings, but decided to remain in Sweden. A short time later, he was also selected to the Import Draft of the Canadian Hockey League, but again chose to remain at the Södertälje SK.
At the beginning of the season 2006/ 07 he made his debut in the NHL and was the first Slovenian NHL players. In his rookie season in Los Angeles, he reached 61 scorer points, including 20 goals and 41 assists in 72 games. He was the third best rookie of the entire NHL for points. His 20:32 minutes of ice per game were the best value of all the strikers in the Los Angeles Kings. In the following two seasons, he established himself in the league and has developed into a leading player of the Kings, so he was chosen in the season 2009/10 as assistant captain of his team. On March 26, 2011 Kopitar suffered a game against the Colorado Avalanche a broken ankle, which excluded him for the rest of the season 2010/11 from the game.
During the summer break Anže Kopitar playing inline hockey. Between 2005 and 2007 he played a few games each for inline hockey club from Kranjska Gora.
Internationally
For Slovenia Kopitar took at junior level at the U18 Junior B World Championships in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and the U20 Junior B World Championships in 2004, 2005 and 2006 in part. In the senior level, he stood in the squad of his country at the B World Cup 2007 and the A World Championships in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Especially in the U20 B Championship in 2005, where he was top scorer and top scorer in the group B and in the B- WC 2007, in which, with the best plus / minus balance of the group B of his team, he helped his team as a scorer, top scorer, Most Valuable Player, Best template donors and players for promotion to the top division, he was in the national jersey convince. In February 2014 Kopitar took part for the first time with the Slovenian national team at the Olympic Winter Games and reached the quarter-finals.
Awards and achievements
- 2004 top scorer of the Slovenian Hockey League
- 2005 top scorer of the Swedish U20 - Superelit
- 2007 NHL Young Stars Game
- 2008 NHL All-Star Game
- 2011 NHL All-Star Game
- 2012 Stanley Cup win with the Los Angeles Kings
Internationally
- 2005 top scorer of the U18 Junior World Championship Division I, Group A
- 2005 Top scorer in the U18 Junior World Championship Division I, Group A
- 2005 Top assist provider of the U18 Junior World Championship Division I, Group A (together with Syarhey Kaszizyn, Sergei Tron and Klemen Žbontar )
- 2005 top scorer of the U20 Junior World Championship Division I, Group B
- 2005 Top scorer in the U20 Junior World Championship Division I, Group B
- 2007 promotion to the top division at the World Championship Division I, Group B
- 2007 top scorer of the World Championship Division I, Group B
- 2007 Best striker in the world championship of Division I, Group B
- 2007 Most Valuable Player of the World Championship Division I, Group B
- 2007 Best original donor in the world championship of Division I, Group B
- 2007 best plus / minus balance of the world championship of Division I, Group B
Career Stats
Internationally
Represented in Slovenia:
- U18 World Junior Championships Division I 2003
- U20 World Junior Championships Division I 2004
- U18 World Junior Championships Division I 2004
- U20 World Junior Championships Division I 2005
- U18 World Junior Championships Division I 2005
- World Championship 2005
- U20 World Junior Championships Division I 2006
- World Cup 2006
- World Championship Division I 2007
- World Championship 2008
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )