KING THIS ROOK IN FIRST SEASON, KOPITAR ALREADY BEING HAILED AS SAVIOR FOR L.A.'S STRUGGLING HOCKEY TEAM.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND 

Staff Writer

Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles' hockey savior, grew up in a city of 21,000 people, just more than the capacity of Staples Center. Turns out, that steel-mill town in northern Slovenia gave Kopitar all he would need.

The talent? It blossomed, nurtured by a hockey-coach father and assisted by videos of Sergei Fedorov.

The motivation? It came from the desire to put his tiny Eastern-bloc country on the hockey map.

The work ethic? It sprung from the childhood days spent waiting tables at his mother's restaurant.

Over his 19-plus years, Kopitar put it all together. Now he's the Kings' future, the hope of a franchise that hasn't had much in recent years. Barring any unforeseen regression, he will be the Kings' next Gretzky.

Unfair expectations? Maybe. But Kopitar is young, big, quick and has the instincts of a player 10 years his senior. With 54 points in 61 games as a rookie, Kopitar is off to a brilliant start. But it's just a start.

"I mean, look at him. He's still a baby," Kings coach Marc Crawford said with wonder as Kopitar walked through the Kings' training facility wearing a backward cap, looking very much like an average teenager.

In appearance, yes. In terms of hockey talent, certainly not. Less than five months into his NHL career, Kopitar is the Kings' No. 1 center and the team's leader in average icetime among forwards.

At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Kopitar is a physical beast with quick hands and superb vision. He's not afraid to carry the puck out of his own zone and, despite his obvious scoring talents, he's a talented playmaker.

"He's the real deal," said future Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille, who holds the Kings' rookie scoring record with 84 points. "With the way he plays the game, he's the kind of guy you build your team around."

Best of all for the Kings, Kopitar has the desire to be great, and the desire to do it the right way. His demeanor betrays only a quiet confidence, without any hint of cockiness or entitlement.

Kopitar is unlikely to win the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year -- Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin has 13 more points and much more hype -- but Kopitar has high hopes for the Kings and himself.

Asked if he has the desire to be among the next generation of NHL stars, Kopitar said, "Always. That's why I chose to try to make it to the NHL. I could have just stayed home and maybe be good, but I knew if I wanted to be great I had to move. I'm going to try to keep going and not just stop now and be happy."

The journey started in the town of Jesenice. Slovenia, which broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, had no hockey heritage of its own but Kopitar's town borders Austria, where hockey is more popular.

NHL games were rare on Slovenian television but with the assistance of his father, Matjaz, a well-regarded coach in Slovenia's pro league, Kopitar learned quickly. The Kopitars obtained videos of NHL games and Anze took to the style of Fedorov and quickly became something to watch.

"I learned fast because I was usually the young guy," Kopitar said. "When I was 14 or 15 I was playing with guys two or three years older than me and even then, they counted on me to be a leader."

At age 15, Kopitar played in an under-18 league in Slovenia and had 38 goals and 38 assists in 14 games. Those numbers led to him being signed by a Slovenian pro team.

Kopitar averaged a point per game in two seasons in Slovenia but his big move came in 2004, when he left the comforts of home to play in the Swedish Elite League. He spent most of the year on the junior team but did well enough to get picked in the first round, 11th overall, by the Kings in the 2005 draft.

Kopitar had been highly rated in predraft reports, but slipped a bit because some teams questioned his background. No player from Slovenia had ever made the NHL. Would Kopitar's talent measure up?

"Coming from a country that wasn't on the hockey radar," said Kings general manager Dean Lombardi, "he had to prove himself at every stage. He just played and didn't have to worry about sideshows.

"A lot of these kids now, between being recruited by colleges and talking to agents, it's no wonder that by the time they're 18 they think they've made it. Anze has maintained a strong set of values."

And he brought them to America. Kopitar dazzled in the Kings' 2005 training camp and would have made the team, but he promised his team in Sweden that he would return and so he did.

Although that disappointed the Kings on a hockey level, they were encouraged by his strong character. This season, Kopitar easily made the team in training camp and has impressed off the ice by doing little things, such as deferring to veterans when it comes to taking turns on the massagetable.

"He always has his eyes and ears open and he's super respectful," team captain Mattias Norstrom said. "He's had some success but he hasn't changed one bit in his preparation. Sometimes you see a little arrogance creep into some guys' play but with Anze there are no shortcuts in his game."

In this market, bereft of much hockey buzz, Kopitar is a godsend, a polite, confident, talented player.

Not since Rob Blake has a young King had this much potential, and not since Wayne Gretzky has a scorer come along with the potential to captivate the Kings' fan base. And remember, he's only 19.

"It's pretty to watch," Ducks forward Teemu Selanne said "If someone told me to go there (the NHL) and play when I was 19, I would have said, 'No way.' He plays like a 10-year veteran. It's great to see."

Selanne and the Ducks saw it firsthand, in a YouTube moment that has received 30,000-plus views.

Watch the first eightseconds, and it all becomes clear. Kopitar, in the second period of his first NHL game, treats the Ducks' Norris Trophy- winning defenseman Chris Pronger like a pylon and makes playoff MVP Jean-Sebastien Giguere crumble to the ground in vain as Kopitar calmly lifts the puck into the net.

First game, first goal, and the start of something big. Still a teenager, Kopitar is the main -- if not only -- reason to remain excited about the last-place Kings, but he's far more than a good player on a bad team.

"He's a pretty complete player already," Crawford said. "He's still a baby and when he fully develops he's going to be an imposing guy. When you add that to his dynamic play, he's going to be special."

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Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Anze Kopitar)

Noah Graham/Getty Images

(2) While the Kings have slipped out of playoff contention, Anze Kopitar's play has given fans something to cheer about.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

(3 -- color) no caption (Anze Kopitar)

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