The Best Player in Hockey Who Isn’t Going to the Olympics
Winter Olympics
By Jo Ann Lawery
He might be one of the best players in the NHL, but Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings isn’t going to the Olympics.
When the Winter Olympics begin in the home of the Vancouver Canucks, all of the big names in hockey like Brodeur, Lundqvist, and Malkin, will be there, carrying the flags of Sweden, Russia, and the host country, Canada.
Even Pavol Demitra will be carrying the flag for the Slovakian Olympic Team, not to mention Jaromir Jagr carrying the flag for the Czech Republic.
We might even have a Jamaican bobsled team sighting, also.
One hockey player won’t be there and that’s a shame.
He’s one of the best players in the league that many hockey fans on the east coast don’t know about. Hockey fans on the west coast do, though.
It’s Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings.
Yes, those Kings who seem to be the forgotten hockey stepchild in California. The Kings used to be the laughingstock of California hockey, what with the successes of the San Jose Sharks and their hockey cousins down the 405 Freeway in Anaheim, the Ducks.
No one is laughing at the Kings anymore because they keep coming from behind to win. Part of the reason besides the goaltending, is their leading scorer, Anze Kopitar. He should be going to the Olympics, but he’s not.
It’s not that he wasn’t invited.
He would have been if his country, Slovenia, had a hockey team.
That’s Slovenia, not to be confused with the country of Slovakia, which does have a team competing in the Olympics. A very good one at that.
But let’s get back to Anze, who might just be the only hockey player from Slovenia to play hockey. He’s not upset that he’s not going to the Olympics.
He had something else planned for his two weeks off. He’s going to get away from it all-in Aspen, Colorado.
Jo Ann, thanks for the reply. Although you still think you are right, that only proves you don’t understand my point. The NHL is not the same as hockey. And I do understand were you’re coming from, but please, as a freelance writer, tread carefully before writing things like:
“who might just be the only hockey player from Slovenia to play hockey”
“He would have been, if his country, Slovenia, had a hockey team.”
Those two statements are both highly disrespectful (to Anze as well, no less…) and wrong. And I don’t care how right you think you are. Come to Slovenia and see for yourself.
John for your information, I am 57 years old and have been a freelance hockey writer since 1992. I have been a hockey fan since 1967. I covered the Kings when I lived in LA. I can admit when Im wrong, but on this one, Im not. I think you do have Slovakia and Slovenia mixed up. Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were part of the same country. There maybe some players in Slovenia, but none of them that I know of have made it to the NHL. I did check my facts and the website for the La Kings, plus notes that I have when I sat in the press box at Staples Center, plus the Kings Media guide. But thank you for reading the article.
Matt Stajan of the Calgary Flames is of Slovenian background.
There were more than 17 slovenian players in the NHL before Anze….
http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=9145
“But let’s get back to Anze, who might just be the only hockey player from Slovenia to play hockey”
1. Please tell me where it says NHL in that sentence…
2. Kopitar is not the first Slovenian to play in the NHL, but that wasn’t what I was pointing out anyways. Before you unknowingly bash me again, Slovenia has been independent since 1991. Before that date Slovenians existed as well.
3. My problem with the way the article was written is that it assumes there are no other hockey players from Slovenia, and that hockey is a fringe sport there. There is hockey outside the NHL. Plain and simple.
4. I am from Slovenia, so I didn’t get my Slovenia’s and Slovakia’s mixed up. But kudos to you for knowing the difference.
John,
You had better check YOUR facts before you bash an article with misinformation. Kopitar is the only Slovenian player to ever play in the NHL. Yes there are a few younger Slovenian players currently trying to work there way up but none have ever played a game. Slovenia does not have a hockey team competing in the olympics. Maybe you got your Slovenia’s and Slovakia’s mixed up.
I don’t know how old you are, but please check your facts before you write ridiculous misinformation. Slovenia has a hockey team and Kopitar is not the only Slovenian hockey player. And this was all a simple Google search away…