Anze Kopitar

[Cavs019 708]

LA has a gem on their hands, do yourselves a favor and check out an LA game one of these days, speed, size, hands, grit........he could potentially be in the same class as Malkin this year, if not better. I normally don't like to base my opinions of a guy on 3 games, but watching this guy has blown me away.

[43%burnt 0]

this kid is going to be good. first goal was no fluke; skating right around pronger with power. crawford is giving him a ton of minutes already. malkin needs to get back on the ice.

[LoXish 0]

Yeah, he impressed so much his first games that I picked him up as a sleeper in my fantasy league.

[Aussie Joe 0]

this kid is going to be good. first goal was no fluke; skating right around pronger with power. crawford is giving him a ton of minutes already. malkin needs to get back on the ice.

That goal was fantastic to watch, ended up showing some of the lads I coach the clip. Great eg. of patience and finesse for the kids to learn from.

Watched the Islander's V Kings game yesterday, the commentators were saying on the broadcast one of the reasons why the Kings picked him up (apart from obvious skill) was that his dad has been his coach for most of his career. Weird that that is a pro in the realms of being drafted.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

He's good but he will never be a Malkin.

[sherwood21 0]

I watched a Kings game after seeing him dance Pronger..can't lie here he looks like a vet already, his hands and reach are top notch

[Guest OSTOR]

Funny this is I picked him on my draft

[sweetblazer 0]

He's good but he will never be a Malkin.

Why cause he's not russian? Some of the things you say are ridiculous you know that. Kopitar, although only 3 games in the NHL, has proven himself. What has malkin done at the NHL level? Nothing hasnt even played a game?

[Eazy_b97 1]

Malkin's got a much better skillset that Kopitar. I liked what I had heard about Anze in his draft year and was surprised he dropped so far in that draft. I expected him to be on the Habs where they picked Price. 3 games is early, he looks promising now, but so did Jason King.

[Cavs019 708]

He's good but he will never be a Malkin.

Care to enlighten us seeing as your opinions are generally never backed by anything other than "he scores pretty goals."

You can't teach vision, you can't teach willingness to block a shot when your arguably the most skilled player on the ice and it's not your "role"

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

He's good but he will never be a Malkin.

Care to enlighten us seeing as your opinions are generally never backed by anything other than "he scores pretty goals."

You can't teach vision, you can't teach willingness to block a shot when your arguably the most skilled player on the ice and it's not your "role"

I can't believe what I'm hearing right now. Kopitar is better than Malkin :o . You can't teach vision, well Malkin's vision is better than Kopitar's vision. Malkin and Kopitar aren't even close to be in the same league. He is good but to say he might be better than Malkin is something I really don't think will happen. Malkin size, speed, skills, vision are all 4 qualities above Kopitar.

[mack 44]

Granted I'm still giving the benefit of the doubt to Malkin, but until he utilises those skills they mean absolutely nothing.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

He's good but he will never be a Malkin.

Why cause he's not russian? Some of the things you say are ridiculous you know that. Kopitar, although only 3 games in the NHL, has proven himself. What has malkin done at the NHL level? Nothing hasnt even played a game?

What is your problem? I'm just saying Malkin is above Kopitar.

[mack 44]

His problem is that it falls into your pattern of thinking Russian players are God's gift to hockey. What makes it worse is your examples tend to be Kovalev or Samsonov of late, not even two of the best Russians in the last 10+ years.

[zrez 0]

I say hes better than crosby and ovey too.

[Forsberg for life 0]

Zrez you serious, :o

[cds 0]

I say hes better than crosby and ovey too.

I wish there were more people like you in my hockey pools.

[sabre09923 0]

Regardless, Kopitar and Malkin are both great players. It will become clear down the stretch who is the better player depending on who is the most consistent (in a good way of course). Consistency, IMO, is the hallmark of a great player.

[sabre09923 0]

Sorry, double post.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

His problem is that it falls into your pattern of thinking Russian players are God's gift to hockey. What makes it worse is your examples tend to be Kovalev or Samsonov of late, not even two of the best Russians in the last 10+ years.

Kovalev is 4th in scoring for all-time russian in the NHL. Facts are there...

And we are not even talking of Kovalev in this topic.

[mack 44]

Uhhh...I didn't say Kovalev was being mentioned in this topic. I only mentioned Kovalev because he and Samsonov are usually who you're campaigning for and defending their talent.

That's a fantastic factoid about where he is in Russian points, but that doesn't make him the 4th best Russian by a long shot.

[KingPest19 0]

He's good but he will never be a Malkin.

Care to enlighten us seeing as your opinions are generally never backed by anything other than "he scores pretty goals."

You can't teach vision, you can't teach willingness to block a shot when your arguably the most skilled player on the ice and it's not your "role"

I can't believe what I'm hearing right now. Kopitar is better than Malkin :o . You can't teach vision, well Malkin's vision is better than Kopitar's vision. Malkin and Kopitar aren't even close to be in the same league. He is good but to say he might be better than Malkin is something I really don't think will happen. Malkin size, speed, skills, vision are all 4 qualities above Kopitar.

Kovy you do realize that Kopitar is just a little bit bigger than Malkin right? As far as speed goes I cannot comment on Malkin but Kopitar by no means is a slow player. Hes got deceptive speed because hes so tall. As far as skills and vision are concerned they are alot closer than you think. Kopitars vision is very very underrated. There is a reason Kopitar is leading the Kings in ice time, points and playing in all situations. ES, PP, PK.

Dont get me wrong Malkin is a great prospect but the difference isnt as large as most people think. Dont know if you've seen Kopitar play in the NHL or not, so my recommendation is turn one on and actually watch him play against NHL'ers.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

He's good but he will never be a Malkin.

Care to enlighten us seeing as your opinions are generally never backed by anything other than "he scores pretty goals."

You can't teach vision, you can't teach willingness to block a shot when your arguably the most skilled player on the ice and it's not your "role"

I can't believe what I'm hearing right now. Kopitar is better than Malkin :o . You can't teach vision, well Malkin's vision is better than Kopitar's vision. Malkin and Kopitar aren't even close to be in the same league. He is good but to say he might be better than Malkin is something I really don't think will happen. Malkin size, speed, skills, vision are all 4 qualities above Kopitar.

Kovy you do realize that Kopitar is just a little bit bigger than Malkin right? As far as speed goes I cannot comment on Malkin but Kopitar by no means is a slow player. Hes got deceptive speed because hes so tall. As far as skills and vision are concerned they are alot closer than you think. Kopitars vision is very very underrated. There is a reason Kopitar is leading the Kings in ice time, points and playing in all situations. ES, PP, PK.

Dont get me wrong Malkin is a great prospect but the difference isnt as large as most people think. Dont know if you've seen Kopitar play in the NHL or not, so my recommendation is turn one on and actually watch him play against NHL'ers.

Yeah, you're right Kopitar ia little bigger. sorry for it. I saw kopitar play and he impresses me a lot. But to say he's a Malkin a little too much in my vision. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Uhhh...I didn't say Kovalev was being mentioned in this topic.  I only  mentioned Kovalev because he and Samsonov are usually who you're campaigning for and defending their talent. 

That's a fantastic factoid about where he is in Russian points, but that doesn't make him the 4th best Russian by a long shot.

You have forgot Fedorov, Havlat, Datsyuk and Zherdev. I also defend Wellwod all the time when he was in the AHL. And many others that don't come to mind right now.

[mack 44]

Well for your credibility's sake I hope you weren't arguing that Datsyuk is anything other than a good regular season player because he is useless past April.