It’s official - Anže Kopitar, who has already surrendered the Stanley Cup with his Los Angeles Kings after the regular season, will play for Slovenia at the World Championship in May. The only Slovenian playing in the NHL will join the national team in the second half of the next week, in the middle of the preparations. Kopi will appear at the World Championship after seven years; it will be his fifth appearance, for the fourth time in the elite division.
He decided to play, although Neža is one month old
"I have said many times that I enjoy playing for the national team when I have the time. And as my father is the trainer, it makes things easier, as we keep in touch, and we have discussed everything," Kopitar said in his public statement, and added that he has always responded to invitations to join the national team with great pleasure.
Lynxes to WC in Ostrava with the Olympic team
"Since I have the opportunity to play for Slovenia, and to join forces again with the team with which we made such a good result in Sochi, I should take advantage of it," Kopitar explained. At the World Championship in the Check Republic he will be one of the main hockey stars.
Slovenia was a hit of the Sochi Olympic Games, surprising by entering the quarter finals of the most prestigious, and the strongest national team tournament, taking the 7th place. This time Lynxes are travelling to Ostrava; the team is very similar to the one playing in Sochi, while the competition won't be as fierce as it was more than a year ago on the coast of the Black sea.