LA Kings’ Sean Walker: “Unbelievable” to be on the Ice with Anze Kopitar
By Ryan Cowley
Prior to Wednesday’s game, LA Kings’ D-man Sean Walker admitted that he wanted to be a part of Anze Kopitar’s milestone — and he was.
Arguably one of the most anticipated moments of the LA Kings season has finally taken place. On Wednesday night, Anze Kopitar, sitting on 999 career points, won a late faceoff in his own zone back to defenseman Sean Walker. Almost immediately, the blueliner shot the puck down the ice, hitting the open net to secure the Kings’ victory. Speaking of Kopitar, though, he registered an assist on the goal, becoming the 91st player in NHL history to reach the 1000-point plateau.
Following Wednesday’s morning skate, Sean Walker had admitted that he would like to be part of his teammate’s ultimate milestone.
“it’d be nice to get in on it. That’s for sure,” he said on Wednesday morning’s media Zoom call.
Lo and behold, that is exactly what happened. Of course, while skeptics may downplay the milestone being that it was an empty-net goal, reaching 1000 points is nonetheless an incredible feat. For Walker, he was in awe of Kopitar even before he solidified the achievement.
“I mean, it’s unbelievable to even be on the ice with him,” the defenseman glowed. “I don’t think you can say enough about the person and player that he is. To watch him night-in and night-out, produce at the level that he does is amazing. So, very excited to see him reach that milestone and it’s something that’s pretty special to be even on the same team with.”
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The 26-year-old wasn’t done there.
“You could just go up and down his game and appreciate every single thing he does: what he does in the D-zone, what he does in the O-zone,” Walker elaborated. “He’s very smart defensively and then once he gets the puck, he can go into the other zone. He keeps a lot of plays alive, he’s a big guy, he’s hard to defend against. You want to be out there with that line, especially with him. I think it’s easy to say that he creates pretty much every time he has the puck on his stick. So, it’s always fun to watch when Anze’s playing and definitely want to be out there with him.”
Following Wednesday’s victory, Kopitar was understandably the focus of attention. This included having Sean Walker’s desire to be in on the goal brought to his attention.
“I guess if he would have told me in the morning I would have been a lot calmer coming to the rink,” a tongue-in-cheek Kopitar said. “So, I guess, yeah, he should have told me that before.”
Reaching 1000 points is an amazing accomplishment in itself. The feat, though, only solidifies the strong feelings others have who have had the privilege to play with him. Sean Walker is no exception to this, who is now celebrating his third season as Kopitar’s teammate.
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Whether he was joking or not, Walker admitted that he wanted to be a part of Anze Kopitar’s milestone point, and he was. To get to be the one who scores the goal to cement such an achievement has to be the envy of every player.
For Sean Walker, this became a reality on Wednesday night — a reality he will hold dear to his heart for the rest of his life.