Raw quotes from Anze Kopitar following the morning session on Thursday, Day 1 of Kings training camp…
How was it out there today?
“It was good, it was good to be back. It was definitely different from last year. During the Summer you know you have a goal, you have time, dates, that you have to be ready for. In my opinion it was a lot easier to get ready, physically, mentally. It was fun out there.”
What was wrong last year?
“I didn’t score, that was wrong. You know I guess I scored in the last game, so I’ve been on a little bit of a hot streak for a long time now, hopefully we’ll keep it going.”
Does knowing there is an 82-game schedule change training?
“No. Not a whole lot. Still have to work on details, you have to remember all the stuff that was put in place. We’re not changing a whole lot- just tweaks here and there. W just have to get ready, that’s the bottom line.”
Reclaiming the Cup…
“Every time you get bumped off the top, you want to get back as soon as you can. You know it’s going to be a hard task and there are good teams out there, but we also realize if we are on top of our game we’re going to have a good chance.”
Any sense that there is more competition in camp this year than last?
“I don’t know if last year’s camp, you can really call it a camp since it was a week or ten days. I wasn’t apart of it. But everybody just came back hungry and ready to go, and that’s the bottom line. You want to have 57 guys that are here working hard and just try to get better.”
New division alignment…look forward to new teams?
“I don’t think it’s going to change a whole lot for us. They’re still teams that we’ve played in the past, and we’re going to do it again. We”re just going to play them a few more times and maybe a new rivalry going to come out.”
Excitement building for the Olympics…
“Yeah, for sure. First time in our country that we’re going to participate. It’s going to be an exciting time for me, my old man coaching the team and hopefully my brother can make the team so we can experience that together and share the moments.”
Possibly scoring on Jonathan Quick in the Olympics…
“Yeah, we’ve got that down already. We still have about four months to just remind him everyday, he’ll be fine.”
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Enjoy a free replay of John Hoven on Sportsnet Radio, where he joined host Roger Lajoie in Toronto to talk a plethora of topics surrounding the NHL’s Return to Play plan, as well as this weekend’s UFC 251 card scheduled to take place on Fight Island.
Today’s radio segment can be heard using the […]