Anze Kopitar was the figurehead of Slovenian ice hockey for no less than 20 years and developed into a true icon of the sport during his time in the best league in the world. Last night his playing career came to an end.
Last night was Game 4 in the playoff series between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche. The co-favorites for the title won 5-1 in California and swept the Kings out of the playoffs. In his last game, Kopitar was on the ice for 18:30 minutes and was unable to score any points.
Anze Kopitar leaves the ice for the final time in his NHL career 🩶 pic.twitter.com/6IGEe5VJg6
— NHL (@NHL)
April 26, 2026
Youngster lives up to previous praise
In 2005, the LA Kings secured the rights to the then 17-year-old Slovenian with the 11th overall pick. With 1,316 points, Kopitar is the second best point collector from the ’05 draft – only superstar Sidney Crosby is ahead of the center forward (1,761). In his first NHL season, 2006/07, the center lived up to his early praise and scored 20 goals and 41 points. In his very first game, on October 6, 2006, Kopitar scored a hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks. The next day he had a 3-assist performance against the St. Louis Blues.
Rise to franchise legend
What followed was an unprecedented love story between LA and the Slovenian, who played no fewer than 1,521 games a season for the Californians. Only 22 players in NHL history have had more games in the NHL. Only six – Gordie Howe (1,687), Patrick Marleau (1,607), Alex Ovechkin (1,573), Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564), Alex Delvecchio (1,550) and Shane Doan (1,540) played their games exclusively for the same club.
Of course, Kopitar climbed up the Kings’ internal leaderboards and ended his career in first place among many: most points (1,316), most assists (864), most games played (1,521). In terms of goals, only Luc Robitaille (557) and Marcel Dionne (550) are ahead of Kopiar, who ultimately scored 452 direct hits.
The multiple Slovenian national team player had his best season in points in 2017/18, when he scored 92 points with 35 goals and 57 assists. At that time, he landed in 7th place with this result – 1st place went to Connor McDavid with 108 points.
Lots of individual awards
Kopitar was known for his strong “2-way game” and was honored with a total of five individual awards. He received the Lady Byng Trophy three times and the Selke Trophy twice as the striker with the best defensive behavior. Of course there are two Stanley Cups and a Mark Messier Leadership Award. At the age of 38, Anze Kopitar is finally hanging up his skates.
Image: Jenn G, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“), i.text = “window._taboola = window._taboola || ();_taboola.push({mode:’alternating-thumbnails-a’, container:’taboola-below-article-thumbnails’, placement:’below-article’, target_type: ‘mix’});”, n.appendChild(l), n.appendChild(i), e(n, t) } Array.prototype.filter || (Array.prototype.filter = function(e, t) { if (“function” != typeof e) throw TypeError(); let n = (); for (let l = 0, i = this.length >>> 0; l < i; l += 1) if (l in this) { let r = this(l); e.call(t, r, l, this) && n.push(r) } return n }), window.insertAfter = e, window.getElementByXPath = t, window.injectWidgetByXpath = function e(l) { let i = t(l) ||. document.getElementById("tbdefault"); i && n(i) }, window.injectWidgetByMarker = function e
