Toggle sidebar

Anze Kopitar (MOD WARNING Post #52)

Chain said:
He's always come across to me as a player who truly cares more about getting his teammates involved than his own personal #'s. Sometimes he seems so concerned with it that the team suffers overall because he neglects to develop his own goal shooting opportunities which could often be better than those of the players around him.
Click to expand...

Yeah, TOO unselfish. I can see that. But that's not exclusive to this season either.
 
Nice pass nonwithstanding, that was the worst game I've seen from Kopi in some time. He was coasting on defense and had zero intensity. On one specific play the puck was shot/passed by or through him at least 3 times.

I know DL is patient, and this team has earned that, but a trade might be good just to wake their collective ***** up.
 
Chain said:
He could but it depends. Training in the off-season is different than in-season. One of the jobs of an S&C coach in the off-season is to establish a foundation for the grind of the season - strengthen muscles, correct imbalances, develop cardio, etc. If a guy doesn't put in the conditioning work in the off-season, for whatever reason, it can be hard to play catch-up during the season because you're just focusing energy on recovering from practice & games, let alone trying to improve your strength & conditioning. Having an injury, wife who is close to delivery, or a newborn can complicate things further by cutting into training & recovery. I haven't worked with pro hockey players (I wish), but I did work with D1 college basketball players. They play about 30 regular season games with a frequency of about twice a week. As far as most aspects of strength & conditioning go, trying to improve those athletes during the season is difficult. I can only imagine it'd be considerably harder for a pro athlete dealing with over 80 games at a frequency of about 3 games per week and that's before even considering the amount of playoff games the Kings have played, which just make off-season S&C even more difficult. If Kopitar's problem is just cardiovascular, then he could likely play his way into shape. If it's anything else, playing alone isn't going to get him in top shape.

I just hope, whatever it is, Kopitar has it worked out by the time the playoffs get here.
Click to expand...


Too bad that there wasn't a clause in Kopi's contract, stating that he had to remain in L.A. for his training in the off season.
 
Now that this road trip is done, Kopitar is no longer only ahead of Nolan, Andreoff, and Van Der Gulik in road scoring by forwards. He moved up ahead of King and Pearson. Tied with King, but he has one more goal. And now with 2 goals, he's ahead of Clifford by 1 in that category. Baby steps to the door...

For whatever it's worth, Kopitar is last on the team in road +/-, with a -9. Carter is next at -6. Regehr is a +10 somehow.

Since Game 7 against Anaheim, Kopitar now has 6 goals, 15 assists, and 21 points in his last 41 games.

We all know Kopitar goes through times like this, but man, this year. The lack of goals, we've seen that song and dance. 8 assists though? Richards and Stoll have 8 assists. The Kings averaged 2.42 goals per game last year. They're actually doing better this year so far, at 2.59.

It's been an interesting season for the Kings.
 
taz346 said:
Too bad that there wasn't a clause in Kopi's contract, stating that he had to remain in L.A. for his training in the off season.
Click to expand...

I dunno, but if I were a GM I'd have a clause in my players contracts that when they came into camp they had to go through a physical test and their conditioning level would already have to be up to a certain standard. There just aren't many good excuses for any pro athlete making millions of dollars to not be in peak condition.

What I'm wondering is how this season affects Kopi's contract. Unless he really turns it around in a big way, I'd imagine it will drop his asking price a little.
 
I've been one of Kopitar's biggest supporters but this is an awful year for him so far. I don't know if it's the baby or the Stanley Cup hangover, but he's just not his usual self. I mean Getzlaf had that one year (2011-12) where he was pretty bad by his own standards. Ultimately, I think this is going to be an anomaly for Kopitar. However, I don't know how you can call this guy a top 3 Center in this league when he is doing this. Crosby or Toews have never had a season like that. That's why he isn't going to get a 10 mill+ contract.

Kopitar is such an enigma to me. It's like he could be dominating everyone on the ice, but sometimes he slumbers around like Penner used to do. Sutter might have to find a way to light a fire under him. I know these guys are pacing themselves, but come on Kopi...
 
bmr said:
I've been one of Kopitar's biggest supporters but this is an awful year for him so far. I don't know if it's the baby or the Stanley Cup hangover, but he's just not his usual self. I mean Getzlaf had that one year (2011-12) where he was pretty bad by his own standards. Ultimately, I think this is going to be an anomaly for Kopitar. However, I don't know how you can call this guy a top 3 Center in this league when he is doing this. Crosby or Toews have never had a season like that. That's why he isn't going to get a 10 mill+ contract.

Kopitar is such an enigma to me. It's like he could be dominating everyone on the ice, but sometimes he slumbers around like Penner used to do. Sutter might have to find a way to light a fire under him. I know these guys are pacing themselves, but come on Kopi...
Click to expand...

I agree with your general premise, but let's not forget that just about every one of the other top 10 or so centers has had at least one anomaly season OR had them chopped off by injury. Most every other player has either missed significant time (thus getting rest) or had at least one abnormally bad stretch. Many of them have missed more games in one season than kopitar has in his entire career. Let that sink in. Again not an excuse for fatigue or whatever, but let's not undersell kopi and over-glorify the others. Edit: will show you what I mean when back at my computer. You can obviously make a case that some of these players have improved or declined overtime but I'm just interested in the big picture not microanalysis

Edit: Totals will include playoffs. Here are some of the comparables. I picked Crosby and Malkin not as 'comparables' but as the cream of the crop. Need to fill in the blanks but need to step away for baby bath time :P

Anze Kopitar
Seasons Played:9
Most Games Played/Season: 108--2014 (Plus Olympics!)
Least Games Played/Season: 72--2007 (Rookie Year)
Total NHL Games Played: 703
Career PPG: 0.88
Most Points/Season (pace): 96, .94--2012: 76 in 82 and 20 in 20 in playoffs
Least Points/Season (pace): 66 .8--2009, 82 games.


Sidney Crosby
Seasons Played: 10
Most Games Played/Season: 101--2009 (Crosby has never played all 82 regular season games)
Least Games Played/Season: 28--2012
Total NHL Games Played: 672
Career PPG: 1.37 (dear god)
Most Points/Season (pace): 134 ,1.30--2009: 103 in 79 and 31 in 24 in playoffs
Least Points/Season (pace): 45, 1.61--2012: 37 in 22 and 8 in 6 in playoffs, cut short by injury


Evgeni Malkin
Seasons Played: 9
Most Games Played/Season: 106--2009
Least Games Played/Season: 43--2011
Total NHL Games Played: 644
Career PPG: 1.21
Most Points/Season (pace): 149, 1.41--2009: 113 in 82 and 36 in 24 in playoffs (!)
Least Points/Season (pace): 37, 0.86--2011: 43 games (injury)

More reasonable comparables:

Jonathan Toews
Seasons Played: 8
Most Games Played/Season: 99--2009
Least Games Played/Season: 65--2012
Total NHL Games Played: 610
Career PPG:0.9
Most Points/Season (pace): 97, 0.99--2010: 68 in 76, 29 in 22 in playoffs
Least Points/Season (pace): 61, 0.94--2012: 57 in 59, 4 in 6 in playoffs


Claude Giroux
Seasons Played: 7
Most Games Played/Season: 105--2010
Least Games Played/Season: 48--2009, rookie year. Though if we're being thorough, since then, 87 in 2012.
Total NHL Games Played: 502
Career PPG: 0.94
Most Points/Season (pace): 110, 1.26--2012: 93 in 77 and 17 in 10 in playoffs
Least Points/Season (pace): 32, 0.67--2009: 27 in 42 and 5 in 6 in playoffs. Though again, since then, 88 in 211 (.95).


Henrik Zetterberg
Seasons Played:12
Most Games Played/Season: 100--2009
Least Games Played/Season: 47--2014
Total NHL Games Played: 916
Career PPG: 0.94
Most Points/Season (pace): 119, 1.23--2008: 92 in 75 and 27 in 22 in playoffs
Least Points/Season (pace): 45, 0.54--2003: 44 in 79 and 1 in 4 in playoffs


Patrice Bergeron
Seasons Played: 11
Most Games Played/Season: 103--2011
Least Games Played/Season: 10--2008
Total NHL Games Played: 786
Career PPG: 0.74
Most Points/Season (pace): 73, 0.9--2006, 81 games
Least Points/Season (pace): 7, 0.7--2008, 10 games


Nicklas Backstrom
Seasons Played: 8
Most Games Played/Season: 96--2008
Least Games Played/Season: 55--2012
Total NHL Games Played: 582
Career PPG: 0.98
Most Points/Season (pace): 110, 1.24--2010: 101 in 82 and 9 in 7 in playoffs
Least Points/Season (pace): 67, 0.78--2011: 65 in 77 and 2 in 9 in playoffs

Obviously doesn't account for fancy stats or a lot of other things--but it does illustrate how spoiled we've been with Kopitar's relative health and production. He's had several ironman streaks and the least NHL games he's played in a season is 72. His production has been relatively consistent from season to season and his best-to-worst seasons only saw a 30 point difference total.
 
Last edited:
I trash the man when he plays awful.

I praise him when he play's well.

Kopitar was dominant tonight, the Blues had no answer for him. Bravo Kopitar, BRAVO.
 
Hopefully this gets the fire going. Vintage Kopitar. It pains me to see him play so poorly, because we know how good he is. Dominant.
 
I thought they ripped Kopi of his fourth assist on the Muzzin goal during the game, but they did correct their error.

1 goal, 4 assists. First five point game of Kopi's career.
 
Kopitar was driving the play all night. Real sharp. I could see it during the first period.

The Blues just struggled from puck drop too handle Kopitar.
 
damacles1156 said:
Kopitar was driving the play all night. Real sharp. I could see it during the first period.

The Blues just struggled from puck drop too handle Kopitar.
Click to expand...

Yes. More than the points, it was the eye test. Looked vintage. Need that guy to show up. Awesome. I'm a happy camper.

Also I wasted way too much time on the above chart for it to say really nothing at all.
 
The Butcher said:
Man. Kopi is really showcasing himself for his upcoming trade. I hope we get something good for him.
Click to expand...

Maybe they can get some type of package that can net the Kings a modern day return of Roman Vopat, Patrice Tardif, and Craig Johnson. Sad reality is that is exactly what the Kings of the 90s and early 2000s would do, they would let Kopitar get to his UFA year, insult him with a ridiculous offer, then trade him for scraps.

Thankfully Lombardi is on top of retaining his core, and that won't happen with Kopitar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom