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Anze Kopitar was honored after the Kings defeated the Oilers 1-0 in his final regular-season home game. He expressed gratitude to the fans with an emotional farewell at center ice.
The Kings' Anze Kopitar waves to fans after his final regular-season home game, a 1-0 win over Oilers on Saturday. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
When the final horn sounded Saturday on the Kingsā 1-0 matinee win over the Edmonton Oilers, Anze Kopitar made his way to center ice, a microphone in his hand and his heart in pieces.
"Thank you very much," he said to the fans, his voice cracking. "Thank you for being here."
Kopitar then held his hands in front of him and folded his fingers into the shape of a heart before skating away ā not quite into the sunset, but headed in that direction.
Kopitar announced in September that this season would be his last, so unless the Kings make the playoffs ā a distinct possibility after the team's fourth win a row and fifth in six games, its best streak of the season ā Saturday marked the final home appearance of a brilliant 20-year career spent entirely in Los Angeles.
The Kings' Anze Kopitar vies for position in front of the Oilers' Darnell Nurse during the second period on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
And the announced crowd of 18,145Ā at Crypto.com Arena made sure he knew that parting is such sweet sorrow, standing and cheering long after the game had ended.
āEventually it was going to happen,ā Kopitar, 38, reflected before the game. āWhether it was this year or two years from now, there was going to be a last day. And Iām very OK with my decision.ā
Kopitar will leave having written his name all over the Kingsā record book. Heās the all-time franchise leader in points (1,314), assists (862), game-winning goals (79) and games played (1,518). He ranks third in goals (452) and power-play goals (129).
And most importantly, he played a starring role on the Kingsā only two Stanley Cup championships, leading both the 2011-12 and 2013-14 teams in goals, assists and points.
Read more: Anze Kopitar passes Marcel Dionne to become Kings' all-time leading scorer
āOver 700 people have put the Kingsā uniform on,ā said Daryl Evans, who was one of the 700 before retiring to become a broadcaster with the team. "He stands at the top of the mountain as one of the greatest ā if notĀ thegreatest ā to do so. Heās a great hockey player, as we can all see. But heās a better person off the ice.ā
Itās that second part, Evans said, that will make Kopitar difficult to replace.
āRecords are made to be beaten. But the intangibles, the things that he did as the teamās captain, the leadership that he provided, the type of a player he was, very unselfish,ā Evans said. āHeās one of those guys whoās a special player.ā
The Kings got the only goal they would need Saturday 7:34 into the first period when Artemi Panarin stripped Edmontonās Evan Bouchard of the puck at the Kingsā blue line and took off the other way, skating in alone on Oilersā goalie Connor Ingram, then beating him on a wrist shot from between the circles.
Kings players react as Anze Kopitar speaks to fans after his final regular-season home game, a 1-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
The goal was Panarinās ninth in 23 games since joining the Kings just ahead of the Olympic break. Edmonton nearly pulled that back midway through the period when Curtis Lazar tipped the puck by Kingsā goalie Anton Forsberg, only to have defenseman Cody Ceci dive through the crease and swipe it away with a desperate one-handed wave of his stick.
Forsberg was brilliant the rest of the way, stopping 27 shots to post his 11th career shutout and win his season-best fourth game in a row, preserving the Kings' one-point lead over Nashville in the race for the Western Conference's final wild-card playoff berth.
The son of a coach, Kopitar was born in the former Yugoslavia, in the mining town of Jesenice near the border with Austria, an area that became part of Slovenia when that country declared independence just before Kopitarās fourth birthday.
At 16, he led the new countryās first-tier professional league in scoring, so he moved to Sweden in search of a challenge ā and ledĀ that countryāsĀ top junior league with 49 points in 30 games. That drew the attention of the Kings, who took Kopitar with the 11thĀ overall pick in the 2005 draft.
Fourteen months later he became the first Slovenian to play in the NHL, making his debut as a teenager and scoring two goals against the Ducks. He never looked back ā nor looked to play elsewhere, twice signing contract extensions with the Kings rather than test the free-agent market. (Not that he needed to test the free-agent market since he made more than $140 million in his two decades with the Kings, becoming the best-paid player in team history.)
āI've always felt extremely comfortable in L.A.,ā said Kopitar, whose two children were born here. āThe organization has been world-class since I got here, so I had no desire to go anywhere else.ā
Anze Kopitar celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the Kings' win over the New Jersey Devils in 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
As a result only six players in league history have played more games with a single organization, making Kopitarās name synonymous with the franchise.
āThe greatest to play for the Kings,ā said Luc Robitaille, the franchise leader in goals (557) as a player and now the teamās president. āWhatās he meant to this franchise ā you know this franchise never won and he came along and we won two [Stanley Cups]. So he deserves all the credits and everything thatās coming his way.ā
Heās also among the last of a dying breed: a two-way center who stood out on both ends of the ice, but was also gentlemanly enough to win the Lady Byng trophy three times. Only one player has won the NHLās top sportsmanship award more often this century.
āEvery coach would love to have him because he never cheats the game,ā Evans saidĀ of Kopitar, who this month was also nominated for theĀ Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy,Ā whichĀ recognizesĀ the player who ābest exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.ā
āHeās got a lot of pride and he doesnāt want to let his teammates down,ā Evans said. āHeās been a student of the game from Day 1. He plays the game the right way. If you could tell a player āwatch somebody,ā thereās a guy you want to watch.ā
Kopitarās numbers have declined this season, owing partly to a pair of lower-body injuries that caused him to miss significant time in both October and January. Thatās left him on pace to finish with fewer thanĀ 16Ā goals in a full season for just the third time while hisĀ 24assists andĀ 36Ā points are career lows.
Read more: Anze Kopitar reflects upon his decision to retire as Kings enter season at a crossroads
But he has the best plus/minus number on the team and heās winning a career-bestĀ 57.7%of his faceoffs, including four crucial draws deep in the Kings' end in the final minute Saturday.
āItās been, obviously, an up-and-down season,ā he said. āSome good, some bad, some ugly.ā
Kopitar admits the goodbyes have been emotional at times. On his final visit to Madison Square Garden last month, for example, he and former teammate Jonathan Quick exchanged several hugs after the game.
āIām enjoying it,ā he added. āIām not sad about it. I guess Iām staying in the moment and enjoying the moment.ā
The Kings' Anze Kopitar tries to flip a shot past Edmonton goaltender Connor Ingram Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
The Kings can extend Kopitarās farewell tour by at least a couple of weeks by making the playoffs, a task that's looking much more likely than it did a week ago. After Saturday's win the Kings not only lead Nashville in the wild-card race, holding a game in hand over the Predators, but they are just two points out of third place in the Pacific Division standings.
"He hopes he's going to play here again," Kings coach D.J. Smith said of Kopitar's possible postseason encore.
Just where and when the team might open the postseason ā if, indeed, it qualifies ā is up in the air since the Kings could finish anywhere from first to fifth in the division, leaving them with more than a dozen possible playoff scenarios. So when the team leaves for its final three-game trip of the season Sunday, the players have been told to pack for 10 days.
Either way Kopitar isnāt changing his mind; when the Kingsā season ends ā whenever that is ā his career will end as well. So will his time in Los Angeles since Kopitar is selling his Manhattan Beach home and moving back to Slovenia to accept a new role as a full-time father.
āIām going to be a dad,ā he said. āIām going to just relax and see how long it takes to get bored and then weāll figure it out from there. Of course Iām going to miss this place. But it was a family decision, obviously, to move.
āAs much as this place is super nice and the community was great to us, itās time to slow down the tempo a little bit and enjoy life. But Iāll make it back here for sure.ā
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The score was 1-0 in favor of the Kings against the Edmonton Oilers.
Kopitar thanked the fans with a heartfelt speech and formed a heart shape with his hands before leaving the ice.
The Kings defeated their rivals, the Edmonton Oilers.
Kopitar was emotional, with his voice cracking as he expressed his gratitude to the fans.

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