Anze Kopitar has spent more than half of his life on Earth playing in the NHL. In the most literal sense, hockey has been all that the Slovenian has known, yet just minutes after playing in his final game, Kopitar proudly announced he’s already found a new full-time job, and it’s a great one.
After 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, most of which he was the face of the franchise, the 38-year-old Kopitar is calling it quits.
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His final run with Los Angeles did not end the way he or his teammates would have liked, with the Kings being swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the NHL playoffs, but it doesn’t look like he’ll let the final games of his career linger for too long.
Flanked by his two children, Neza and Jakob, Kopitar was asked during his final postgame press conference how his kids felt now that they won’t have to share their father with the Kings anymore.
Somehow, Kopitar managed to keep his emotions together while delivering comments that most dads out there wouldn’t have been able to get through without choking up.
“I think they’re extremely happy because now they get their dad for themselves,” Kopitar said, which prompted both Jakob and Neza to nod their heads in agreement.
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“Now, they get to wake up in the morning and barge into the room and see me there,” he continued. “That’s what they deserve, they’ve been 11 years, 9 years with a so-called part-time dad, and now they get that full-time.”
This, my friends, is what they call the good stuff.
The new full-time dad will go down as one of the best players to ever suit up for the Kings, as both the all-time franchise leader in games played (1,521), points (1,316) and assists (864).
Kopitar was also a key piece in Los Angeles’ Stanley Cup runs just over a decade ago, and became the first Slovenian-born player to hoist the Stanley Cup when the Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils in six games in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.
