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Kings Article: LA Kings Anze Kopitar Is Working His Way Back To Elite Status

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I can't express my disagreement with the title and the premise of this article strongly enough.

Last playoffs was an aberration. No matter what he says about his health, I'm not going to ignore the evidence of my own eyes.

As for the idea that elite players never going in to slumps -- yes they do. All the time. Just to take playoff scoring for example -- Kopitar had the same number of goals as Toews in fewer games.

It's no surprise to me that Kopitar's back to normal and tearing it up again. I'm just glad all the full Holmgren "trade Kopitar" talk has evaporated. He's a rock.
 
I hope it's a long ways away, but I can't wait until #11 is hanging from the rafters or the wall.

I was a little bit to young to remember Robitaille coming up as a rookie so to me this is the first time I've ever seen the Kings draft and develop a superstar. Watching him go from the 19 year old kid to IMO the best all around center in the league has been amazing.

I will definitely be flying out for that ceremony, but hopefully it's years away.
 
KingKopitar11 said:
This title is bad and you should feel bad.
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I stand by the story I wrote after last year's playoffs, and I stand by this one, along with its headline.

Fact is, elite players don't go into 34-game slumps at the most crucial time of the season, especially when it was confirmed that he was not injured.

Those of you who are of the OPINION that he was injured have nothing to support that claim. Multiple sources, all the way up to Dean Lombardi, confirmed that he was not injured, including the player. This all happened after the season ended, when there was no reason to hide an injury.
 
FrozenRoyalty said:
I stand by the story I wrote after last year's playoffs, and I stand by this one, along with its headline.

Fact is, elite players don't go into 34-game slumps at the most crucial time of the season, especially when it was confirmed that he was not injured.

Those of you who are of the OPINION that he was injured have nothing to support that claim. Multiple sources, all the way up to Dean Lombardi, confirmed that he was not injured, including the player. This all happened after the season ended, when there was no reason to hide an injury.
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I think the elite thing is all semantics so I'm not going to battle that because I think it's fair to say he's working his way back up in the general fan's eyes.

I don't like selective stat picking, though. Kopitar's goals-per-game were down last season and he had a bad playoffs statistically, yet his production in the regular season was right on pace with his normal production, even despite the eye test on his play and injury speculation. "34-game slump" is a little disingenuous because it makes it sound like he didn't score at all when your readers would have to surf to another article for context.

Props for sticking to your guns on everything else, though. Many writers flip-flop out of convenience.
 
Brad Doty said:
I think the elite thing is all semantics so I'm not going to battle that because I think it's fair to say he's working his way back up in the general fan's eyes.

I don't like selective stat picking, though. Kopitar's goals-per-game were down last season and he had a bad playoffs statistically, yet his production in the regular season was right on pace with his normal production, even despite the eye test on his play and injury speculation. "34-game slump" is a little disingenuous because it makes it sound like he didn't score at all when your readers would have to surf to another article for context.

Props for sticking to your guns on everything else, though. Many writers flip-flop out of convenience.
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Note that I didn't say it was a "goal scoring slump..."
 
I already voiced how I felt about it on twitter. All due respect to Gann I disagree strongly.

Just as it's hasty to pin an elite tag on a player after 32 games, it's hasty to take it away. Kopitar's numbers and performances (be it advanced stats, eye test, scoring numbers) are consistent from 2010-11 all the way through to now. The only dip in the graph is 2012-13 playoffs, which was incredibly brutal for a number of reasons. He is elite. Has been for years.

282d3287869bbc352881e41b4afaa82048421277160f9b37165ac5e76a7808bf.jpg
 
Yeah, I don't see how a two way center who has led the team in scoring every year isn't elite, slump notwithstanding. That's just my opinion.
 
King'sPawn said:
Yeah, I don't see how a two way center who has led the team in scoring every year isn't elite, slump notwithstanding. That's just my opinion.
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I think that the problem for me is that he goes through a prolonged scoring drought through a long period in the middle of every season. It's only scoring, as Kopitar is an honest, hard-working player who gives everything he has on the defensive side every game. It's just that his scoring disappears and, with that, the rest of the team's offense does too. That said, I wouldn't fault him for the playoffs last year. Scoring was low for both teams in every series we played in. That's the playoffs. So long as Kopitar does something significant for the win--whether it be offensive, defensive, or both--you can't fault him as an elite center who can shut down opposing offenses. If we're winning games by 2-1, 3-2, or 1-0 scores, and Kopitar is pointless and a couple of unsung heroes are potting the goals each game, he's still elite, but in a defensive threat kind of way. I guess what I'm saying is that he has all the elite tools and uses them all over the ice, but still hasn't put it together consistently for a full season yet. That said, like a lot of LA Kings, something magical happens when the games matter and that's why he's elite when it matters. You know, that stuff that starts Thursday night.
 
King'sPawn said:
Yeah, I don't see how a two way center who has led the team in scoring every year isn't elite, slump notwithstanding. That's just my opinion.
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So if a player leads a team in scoring every year, but they never make the playoffs, he'e elite, too? That is what you're saying...
 
Jason Lewis said:
I already voiced how I felt about it on twitter. All due respect to Gann I disagree strongly.

Just as it's hasty to pin an elite tag on a player after 32 games, it's hasty to take it away. Kopitar's numbers and performances (be it advanced stats, eye test, scoring numbers) are consistent from 2010-11 all the way through to now. The only dip in the graph is 2012-13 playoffs, which was incredibly brutal for a number of reasons. He is elite. Has been for years.

282d3287869bbc352881e41b4afaa82048421277160f9b37165ac5e76a7808bf.jpg
Click to expand...

No disrespect sensed from here...

Besides, if everyone agreed on everything, there would be nothing to debate. Talk about boring...

But EVERYONE knows Jason sucks. :D
 
FrozenRoyalty said:
So if a player leads a team in scoring every year, but they never make the playoffs, he'e elite, too? That is what you're saying...
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I said two way center. And I said every year. The exception being his rookie year. Since he was a rookie, though, he outscored the second highest player on the team by numbers such as 6, 7, 16, 17, 20, 22 points.

Players who are strong defensively naturally sacrifice scoring for the overall chance of the team winning. To make that sacrifice AND to lead a team in scoring consistently, especially a playoff team, is pretty elite in my books.

I don't think either Bergeron nor Toews has ever lead their team in scoring (I checked this and Toews DID lead the team once) yet are considered elite for their two way play. Seems like Kopitar should get similar recognition.
 
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King'sPawn said:
I said two way center. And I said every year. The exception being his rookie year. Since he was a rookie, though, he outscored the second highest player on the team by numbers such as 6, 7, 16, 17, 20, 22 points.

Players who are strong defensively naturally sacrifice scoring for the overall chance of the team winning. To make that sacrifice AND to lead a team in scoring consistently, especially a playoff team, is pretty elite in my books.

I don't think either Bergeron nor Toews has ever lead their team in scoring (I checked this and Toews DID lead the team once) yet are considered elite for their two way play. Seems like Kopitar should get similar recognition.
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Regular seasons really don't make a player elite, in my book. It's part of it, but most of it has to do with what they do in the playoffs. IMHO.
 
Sometimes I try to imagine Kopitar with his two clones on the wings. I think they would be 100 pts players without even trying to hard. And imagine that corsi lol.
 
FrozenRoyalty said:
Regular seasons really don't make a player elite, in my book. It's part of it, but most of it has to do with what they do in the playoffs. IMHO.
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And leading a cup winning team in scoring while still playing a two way game doesn't get elite consideration? Okay.
 
Sensationalism might draw blog hits but it also causes me to be skeptical.
So after much thought here is how I have decided to deal with this.
You won't be getting a blog hit from me even though some of what you have written in the past has been good. And probably won't for sometime.
Blog hits are money for you. So if you really don't agree with what he is saying here just don't give him the money with the hits.
 
tsanuri said:
Sensationalism might draw blog hits but it also causes me to be skeptical.
So after much thought here is how I have decided to deal with this.
You won't be getting a blog hit from me even though some of what you have written in the past has been good. And probably won't for sometime.
Blog hits are money for you. So if you really don't agree with what he is saying here just don't give him the money with the hits.
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That's your choice, obviously. However, this was not "sensationalism" on my part at all. I wrote what I believed, provided backup. You may not agree. Suit yourself.
 
Tonellisghost said:
Easiest job ever done.


The guy has been "elite" since his first NHL game. Pretty easy to see.
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Kopitar has had elite-level skills since he entered the league. But that didn't make him an elite player at that point.

IMHO, elite players earn that recognition in the post-season. By the same token, unless they have built up quite the resume, especially in the post-season, they can lose it. Kopitar did that last year.

That said, I'll be very surprised if he doesn't earn that recognition once again in the playoffs this year.
 
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