Anze Kopitar last time played for the Slovenian national team at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
Big news for Slovenian hockey fans: Los Angeles Kings captain and scoring leader Anze Kopitar will join the Slovenian national team that will compete in the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A in Kazakhstan's capital of Nur-Sultan (formerly known as Astana).
The Slovenian Ice Hockey Association announced today that the Los Angeles Kings have responded positively on the request to let Kopitar play for the Slovenian national team following the end of the regular season in the National Hockey League.
Kopitar is expected to join the Slovenian national team in the last week of preparation before leaving to Kazakhstan.
The most famous player ever to come from Slovenia has represented his country in several international events including the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, four top-level IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships (2005, 2006, 2008, 2015) and one World Championship Division I event in 2007 where he led Slovenia to promotion with 14 points in five games.
Kopitar joined the Los Angeles Kings in 2006 after his successful World Championship debut and has been the team's scoring leader in most of the seasons ever since.
Slovenia along with host Kazakhstan, Belarus, Korea, Hungary and Lithuania battle for two open spots at the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A between 29 April and 5 May.