Chronicles of Stanley: Anze Kopitar returns home to Slovenia edition

The Chronicles of Stanley is an occasional series this summer that tracks the Los Angeles Kings as they each get their special alone time with the Stanley Cup.

Anze Kopitar has been on a history-making tear since he arrived in the NHL. As the league's first Slovenian player, he's been the first Slovenian to do everything: Score a goal. Hug Drew Doughty. Win the Stanley Cup. Et cetera.

On that last point: By becoming the first Slovenian player to win the Stanley Cup, Kopitar also became the first player to take the Cup back to Slovenia during his day with it. That day was Thursday, as Kopitar and the Cup visited his hometown of Hrusica.

Yessir, up until this summer, a photo like the one above would have been a surefire Photoshop. While it still looks like one for some reason, it is, in fact, not.

Thousands of fans were drawn out by the massive celebrity power of Kopitar and the Cup. Here's video of him raising it high at a rally:

The Cup hit a few other noteworthy hot spots as well.

Apart from the rally, Kopitar took the Cup to the top of Castle Bled, out for a boat ride on nearby Lake Bled, and inside a church on the island at Lake Bled. He also brought it along with him for a quick round of golf.

Kopitar even gave it the "This wasn't a one-night stand" treatment by waking it up with a compliment and eating breakfast with it.

But frankly, the most impressive place in Hrušica that the Cup touched down was in the backyard of Kopitar's childhood home.

"The cup's right about at center ice where my backyard rink was as a kid!" Kopitar tweeted, in what had to be a special moment.

Like a lot of kids, he probably dreamed of one day being able to bring it right to that spot. But on Thursday, Kopitar became the first kid in Slovenia to fulfill that dream.

For more photos, check out Anze Kopitar's Twitter account.