The Calgary Flames visit the Los Angeles Kings this afternoon at the Staples Center.
It will give me the opportunity to see the current Art Ross leader in the National Hockey League-- surprisingly, Slovenia's Anze Kopitar.
We'll have to watch his athletic brilliance now because we won't have the opportunity to see him showcase his skills when the rest of the best players in the National Hockey League go to Vancouver for the Winter Olympic Games in February.
Twelve nations will be there-- Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, United States, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Belarus and Germany.
But none of these countries can say they are the home country for Anze Kopitar, who I have recently nicknamed as the Slovenian Stud.
Kopitar, has outstanding playmaking ability. He has 32 points so far in 23 games (14 goals, 18 assists), and has felt very comfortable on the Kings' top line, centering Justin Williams on the left and high quality power forward Dustin Brown on the right. He has also seen his fair share of power play time with Ryan Smyth, who still presents nightmares for NHL goaltenders, as he camps right in front of them, when his team has the man advantage.
The 22 year old from Jesenice has a great future, and while others scrap for a gold medal, Kopitar will receive two weeks off of well deserved rest and don't be surprised to see more juice in his step when the NHL resumes in March.
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