Kings’ Anze Kopitar crowned Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner
Nice dads finish first — and Anze Kopitar is proof. The Los Angeles Kings captain was surprised with the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy by his kids, taking honours as the NHL’s most sportsmanlike player, the league announced in a video on Thursday.
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Nice dads finish first — and Anze Kopitar is proof.
The Los Angeles Kings captain was surprised with the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy by his kids, taking home the honour as the NHL’s most sportsmanlike player, the league announced in a video on Thursday.
Kopitar finished nine holes of a round of golf with his father and two children, Jakob and Neza, before the kids handed him drawings indicating he had won the award. The trophy soon followed.
Neza proclaimed her dad to be the nicest in the league.
“I thought it was just going to be a friendly 10 holes of golf and then a little bit of lunch, so this was a very pleasant surprise when the kids brought it out onto the ninth green,” Kopitar said in the video.
The 37-year-old joins Pavel Datsyuk (who won the Lady Byng four times) and Martin St. Louis (three) as the only three-time winners of the award after he also claimed the trophy in 2016 and 2023.
Kopitar led his team to second in the Pacific Division with 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists) while being handed two minor penalties in 81 games.
“To me it just means, I guess, being a so-called gentleman. Hockey is a physical sport, but within those parameters, I think there’s obviously room (to be) a gentleman, a good guy,” Kopitar said.
The other nominees for the award were Vegas’ Jack Eichel and Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point.
Eichel, 28, enjoyed the most prolific season of his career with 94 points (28 goals, 66 assists) to set a Golden Knights franchise record. Despite averaging 20:32 per game over 77 contests, the former second overall pick took only four minor penalties.
Point, 29, hit the 40-goal and 80-point milestones for the third consecutive season as the Lightning took second in the Atlantic Division. The nine-year vet recorded just seven penalty minutes, comprising of one major and one minor penalty, in 77 games.
