This is a rough one.
Beloved team captain Anze Kopitar played his final regular season home game today, a 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Next week the Kings finish the season on the road with games in Seattle, Vancouver, and Calgary.
Kopi had announced at the beginning of the season that this would be his last year. He retires as the team's all-time leading points scorer. He also won two Stanley Cups (2012 and 2014) with the Kings. In addition to the point scoring, he also excels at faceoffs. His retirement is going to leave a number of gaping holes in this team.
The Kings have won four in a row, but since this was yet another That's So Kings season, they're still fighting to secure a playoff spot. But since the whole division seems to be sucking, they still have a legit shot at it if they don't screw up on the road. This means more Kopi for at least one round of playoffs.
Seriously, 90 points gets you 7th place in the Atlantic Division, tied for 6th in the Metropolitan, and tied for 4th in the Central. Point leaders in the other divisions have 106 points (Buffalo), 110 (Carolina), and 114 (Colorado). In fact, the top three teams in both the Atlantic and Central Divisions have over 100 points. The Kings are lucky they aren't in any other division or they'd already be planning their summer vacations.
I can't believe it's been twenty years. It isn't going to seem like the Kings without him. Now I'm going to watch this again and cry some more.
Top pic snicked from the LA Kings website.
Updated 4/13/26: The Kings defeated Seattle 5-3 and have clinched a playoff spot. We haven't seen the last of Kopi at home.
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