Anže Kopitar

He appeared in five games and recorded three points. Read Less

Kopitar completed his first NHL season third among rookies in scoring behind Evgeni Malkin and Paul Stastny, with 20 goals and 41 assists for 61 points. It marked the fifth highest point total by a Kings rookie, and the highest since Luc Robitaille in 1986–87. He finished fourth in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. Kopitar was awarded the Mark Bavis Memorial Award as the best first-year member of the Kings and named the King's Most Popular Player.

The following season, Kopitar was selected to represent the Western Conference at the 56th NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta, his first appearance in the game. He was the youngest player in the game, nearly two years younger than Paul Stastny. He finished the season with 32 goals and 45 assists for 77 points. Kopitar led the Kings in assists and points and was second in goals. He was named the winner of the Bill Libby Memorial Award as the most valuable player on the Kings; he also received an award for leading the team in scoring. Read Less

Internationally, he has represented the Slovenian national team in several junior and senior tournaments.

Kopitar was born in Jesenice, Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia) to Matjaž and Mateja Kopitar. Matjaž played hockey for HK Acroni Jesenice in the Yugoslav and later Slovenian championship in the 1980s and 1990s, and competed in three World Championships (in the B and C pools; lower levels) for both Yugoslavia and Slovenia in the early 1990s. He also coached HK Acroni Jesenice of the Austrian Hockey League in the 2006–07 season and is the current head coach of the Slovenia national ice hockey team. Mateja worked at the family restaurant, Gostišče Kopitar, in Hrušica, a village about five kilometres from Jesenice.

When Kopitar was four, his father first taught him how to skate; Matjaž built an ice rink in their backyard in Hrušica, and Kopitar would go out there whenever he could. Kopitar has a brother, Gašper, who is five years younger. Gašper also plays hockey; when the family moved to Los Angeles he joined a junior team sponsored by the Kings. He then played for the Portland Winterhawks of the major junior Western Hockey League and the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League, before turning professional with Mora IK in Sweden. Kopitar's grandmother taught English at a local high school, and both Kopitar and his brother learned to speak English from her. Read Less