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Kings Article: LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi On Anze Kopitar: “I Don’t Worry About Him At Allâ€

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I just think he's giving him too much slack. It could of been the competition but his compete wasn't even there offensively.

It's nice to see the praise he gets from DL. Hopefully kopitar is in top form. I thought by his age he'd be in peak shape which is surprising he isn't. Doughty is much younger than kopitar so it's a strange comparison to make when it comes to physical stature.

Anyways hope he has a bounce back season.
 
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Cruel11 said:
Do you have Kopitar on alert everytime his work ethic is mentioned? Just curious.
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I read all the articles regardless of who it is about, kopitar is just an interesting topic for me. Big deal.
 
I completely agree with DL - not worried about Kopitar at all. We often forget how young these players really are. He'll figure it out as DL says. He is a coach's son and he is only going to get better and better and his most fruitful years are still to come.
 
I worry about him, his second half/playoffs last year were abysmal. Let's just hope it was because he was getting married and he's over it, 'cause that **** was not cool...
 
I think Dean worries about Kopitar. If he doesn't play like he did in the 2012 playoffs, no more cups. Hope he comes back strong this season. I would love to see him get through an entire season without having a prolonged 20-game slump.
 
I'm sure he has concerns about Kopitar, and any of this elite players, but he's certainly not going to air that laundry publically by telling it to a reporter. ANything he felt needed to be addressed like maybe the latter part of the year and his offensive slump in the playoffs, would have been done privately ,as it should be.

DL was smart enough to recognize Kopitar's potential and his full game growing and the pressure he would be under as the star player on a team that was gearing up to be an elite team. Trading for Richards and Carter and those affordable CAP hits was huge, great moves. That took (and I've read interviews with Kopitar where he's said this) a lot of pressure off of Kopitar and going forward , will allow him to relax and hit his full stride.

He's an elite forward, a powerhouse of a center who was clearly disappointed in his post season play and that should provide some fuel for him going forward.
And I think the new additions to the team will help as well. IF the Kings get some more production from the 2nd and 3rd lines with the new additions, that's less pressure for Kopitar and that should help.
 
deeshamrock said:
I'm sure he has concerns about Kopitar, and any of this elite players, but he's certainly not going to air that laundry publically by telling it to a reporter. ANything he felt needed to be addressed like maybe the latter part of the year and his offensive slump in the playoffs, would have been done privately ,as it should be.

DL was smart enough to recognize Kopitar's potential and his full game growing and the pressure he would be under as the star player on a team that was gearing up to be an elite team. Trading for Richards and Carter and those affordable CAP hits was huge, great moves. That took (and I've read interviews with Kopitar where he's said this) a lot of pressure off of Kopitar and going forward , will allow him to relax and hit his full stride.

He's an elite forward, a powerhouse of a center who was clearly disappointed in his post season play and that should provide some fuel for him going forward.
And I think the new additions to the team will help as well. IF the Kings get some more production from the 2nd and 3rd lines with the new additions, that's less pressure for Kopitar and that should help.
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Exactly


For those who think he is letting Anze off easy, watch this video around the 8:15 mark

 
Kopitar admited this summer in many interviews in Slovenia (not directly, but you could read that from his words), that last off-season was very "strange" for him because first of SC celebration and then because everybody knew lock-out is coming. He sometimes had very hard time to motivate himself for hard training, because he didn't know if they'll play season at all. He also indirectly admitted that he should take more rest time in last off-season as he did because of number of games he played in last two years (over 200 games). You could read that also that he should join Mora at least few weeks later as he did.

So this year he took more rest time after end of the season, he was much less disturbed by local media and by different events and he believe he did very well in preparation time. He took less time on ice and more time on tracks and in fitness.

I do believe this season he'll be again old himself.
 
The guy has produced since his first game in the NHL. I'm not worried. The guy had a down year and was still fairly productive. I also don't believe that he was 100% healthy. Somebody who is 100% healthy doesn't wear a knee brace all season. And even if he was 100% healthy, a knee brace is going to have an impact on your skating. Anyone with a set of eyes noticed a lost step in Kopitar's stride last year. Whether that was due to fatigue, improper training, his injury or a combination of all three, I'm not worried. I'll leave that to the rest of you.

I'm worried about the defense and the loss of Scuderi. That is what I'm worried about. That and seeing John Kerry's long face on TV anymore than it has been recently. Why the long face, John Kerry? Why the long face?
 
I'm willing to bet dealing with getting married had a bit to do with it too. No one I've ever known no matter how ready for marriage wasn't totally distracted by it all the way up to the day.
 
kingsholygrail said:
I'm willing to bet dealing with getting married had a bit to do with it too. No one I've ever known no matter how ready for marriage wasn't totally distracted by it all the way up to the day.
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That's no excuse for a millionaire, he wouldn't have to do anything in preparation if he didn't want to.

Now for your average $40-50k a year guy, sure, because he actually has to do some of that stuff himself.
 
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I remember getting so depressed when Kopitar would take a shift toward the end of that Blackhawks series. He was just a shell out there.

Good news is that he didn't even have a bad YEAR. He had a bad last half/playoffs. That's pretty okay, all things considered.

Pavel Datsyuk was considered a total playoff choke artist until 07/08. Players go through highs and lows, even the best. It's okay.
 
Trusty Lombardi to HF Translator:
Lombardi: I'm not worried.
HF Translate: He's worried
 
santiclaws said:
If he's not even a little worried, he's an idiot. And he's no idiot.
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He knows a lot more than us internet jockeys. We only worry because we fill in the blanks of what we don't know, or we pretend to know.

But it's still amusing that, despite open criticisms of where players are and need to be, people still read DL's words as double speak.
 
I think he and Sutter have gone over with Kopitar exactly what he needs to do and what they expect from him. I'm sure Dean means that he is confident that Kopitar is going to follow through with his end and make sure he is ready for what's to come. It is a boost to Kopitar that his GM has the upmost confidence in him and his abilities. I wouldn't read too much into it.
 
I don't put too much emphasis on last year's truncated season. I'm not worried about Kopi, Regher, Greene or Mitchell. In fact, I expect solid year out of each and every one of them.
 
likid said:
Kopitar admited this summer in many interviews in Slovenia (not directly, but you could read that from his words), that last off-season was very "strange" for him because first of SC celebration and then because everybody knew lock-out is coming. He sometimes had very hard time to motivate himself for hard training, because he didn't know if they'll play season at all. He also indirectly admitted that he should take more rest time in last off-season as he did because of number of games he played in last two years (over 200 games). You could read that also that he should join Mora at least few weeks later as he did.

So this year he took more rest time after end of the season, he was much less disturbed by local media and by different events and he believe he did very well in preparation time. He took less time on ice and more time on tracks and in fitness.

I do believe this season he'll be again old himself.
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Thanks - good to know.
 
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