Kings captain Anze Kopitar was honored with the NHL’s Mark Messier Leadership Award on Wednesday.
It is bestowed each year upon “the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.”
Though the Stanley Cup still hangs in the balance – the Kings were eliminated two playoff rounds prior to the ongoing conference finals – the NHL has started to announce the recipients of its other hardware, beginning with Kopitar.
He spearheaded the Kings’ return to the postseason for the first time in four years. There, he valiantly went nose to nose with Edmonton center and scoring champion Connor McDavid for seven games.
“Now we’ve got to upgrade. … We’ve got to take the next step,” Kopitar said. “It’s actually very simple. Nobody’s going to be satisfied with playing seven games in the playoffs and getting bounced in the first round.”
Kopitar led the Kings in scoring this season for the 14th time in his 16-campaign career, which has been spent entirely with the Kings. Only Gordie Howe, who led the Detroit Red Wings in scoring 17 times, has paced a single club in scoring more frequently than Kopitar has.
In addition to twice hoisting the Cup, Kopitar won two Frank J. Selke trophies as the NHL’s top defensive forward (2016, 2018) and one Lady Byng Trophy (2016) as its most gentlemanly player. In 2018, he was a finalist for the Hart Trophy, finishing third in the league’s most valuable player voting.
Kopitar succeeded winger Dustin Brown, who also won the Messier award in 2014, as the Kings’ captain in 2016. Brown retired at the conclusion of this past season. That left only Kopitar, defenseman Drew Doughty and goalie Jonathan Quick to tether the current Kings to their championships past.
Before the Ducks and San Jose Sharks were his arch nemeses, Kopitar was more attuned to the clashes between his native Jesenice and Slovenia’s capital city of Ljubljana. Today, his roots run deep in Southern California and Central Europe alike.
Much of his work in the greater Los Angeles area has flown under the radar. It includes multiple children’s charities, such as the Make a Wish Foundation, as well as Wags and Walks, an organization committed to curbing the euthanization of dogs.
In Slovenia, where he might only be rivaled by Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as the nation’s most recognizable athlete, his profile is much higher. He runs an annual hockey camp that attracts approximately 200 participants from more than a dozen different countries.
After the Kings were eliminated, Kopitar said he planned to enjoy the Spring with his family in Southern California, and then it was right back to serving the sport and his community.
“We’ll go back (to Slovenia) for a little bit, I’ve got my hockey camp for two weeks in late June and early July,” Kopitar said.