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Kings star Anze Kopitar happy to show off his skills during All-Star Game

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He’s not exactly a household name when it comes to NHL stars across the league but Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings probably should start getting talked about a bit more. The Kings are a team on the rise in the league and Kopitar has been a cornerstone player for the franchise.

He leads the team in scoring this season, something he’s done the three seasons previous to this one. With 49 points at the All-Star break, Kopitar is tops on the Kings in scoring by ten points. When he broke out as a rookie in 2006-2007, he debuted in the NHL with 61 points, good for third on the team behind Mike Cammalleri and Alexander Frolov. Last season, the Kings made the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-2002 season and Kopitar was one of the leading reasons why they got there. With 34 goals and 47 assists, his 81 points was a career best.

So how come a guy who’s the best player on a team in the second biggest media market in the United States isn’t better known in the NHL? Go ahead and form your own theories why, but Kopitar was happy to be able to break free in the wide open All-Star Game in Raleigh and not have to worry so much about the things Kings coach Terry Murray stresses heavily.

“I don’t think backchecking was the first thing that came to mind in this game, but it was fun and that’s all that matters.”

Kopitar showed off his incredible talent scoring twice for Team Lidstrom in their 11-10 win over Team Staal including a highlight reel goal to beat Cam Ward in the first period to get his team on the board after starting off in a 4-0 hole. Kopitar was typically modest about his effort on the goal.

“I was just getting down there and reacting to what the situation was. I thought it was enough waiting for us and we were already down by four, might as well put us on the board first. I thought I made a pretty good move and it worked out.”

The big Slovenian center is a very humble player. His actions on or off the ice don’t demand that the spotlight be put on him but perhaps it’s time that our attention is turned on him a bit more. After all, undressing the hometown goalie in the All-Star Game certainly made us take notice.

Kopitar’s skills as both a set-up man and a goal scorer are solid and he’s been able to flourish under strict taskmaster Murray’s system in L.A. Imagine the kinds of numbers he’d put up with a bit more slack given to him offensively and with a consistent linemate on his left wing. Kopitar’s still put up the points despite seeing anyone from Ryan Smyth, Brad Richardson, Andrei Loktionov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Marco Sturm line up on his left side. It’s been that sort of year for the Kings as they fight in the deep Western Conference race for the playoffs. Despite all those obstacles, Kopitar keeps producing.

It may have been just a pair of goals in the All-Star Game, but Kopitar served notice that he is the real deal in Los Angeles. Now if only he could get noticed a bit more in and out of Los Angeles.