Advertisement

What Logan Couture loves about Anze Kopitar, Ryan Getzlaf

What Logan Couture loves about Anze Kopitar, Ryan Getzlaf

Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks had a piece today on The Players’ Tribune, the site founded by Derek Jeter that presents the unfiltered voices of professional athletes, as long as you don’t consider the person transcribing their phone conversation and turning it into something readable a “filter.”

Anyhoo, Couture talked about the best centers in the NHL, and had some very flattering things to say about two of them that torment the San Jose Sharks. Here’s Logan on Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings. (Please note that his post has specific examples of what these players due, supported by GIFs, so check out that story for them.)

“Kopitar is the most underrated center in the NHL. We see him all the time, unfortunately. Because he combines size, strength and intelligence, he’s as difficult to play against as any player in the league. When we’re up against the Kings, I try and play like him. He’s very responsible defensively and checks very well, especially with his stick. He’s one of the best in the league at anticipating where the puck is going and jumping in to cut off cycles.”

It’s pretty interesting to hear players talking about emulating their peers. Most of the time, they’ll discuss players from their youth when discussing idols. The idea that Couture’s facing someone like Kopitar and thinking “yeah, totally stealing that” is probably obvious but definitely unspoken.

Here’s what Couture had to say about Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks:

“On the power play, he’s dangerous because of how he can fool you with his eyes. He no-looks a lot of passes where he’s focused on the net with his hands out wide, making you think he’s going to shoot, then he pulls his hands in close and passes across the seam. If you’re not paying close attention, he’ll make you look pretty silly.

“Getzlaf’s line likes to spend a lot of time behind the opposition’s net cycling the puck, making you have to deal with their physicality. If they can get it deep, they like to take shifts close to a minute long to wear you down. Anaheim is one of the best teams in the league at the dirty goals — rapping and jamming around the net. It’s not fun trying to get the puck off them on the defensive zone. Not fun at all.”

The Sharks could use a dirty goal or 10 in the playoffs. And preventing a few would help too.

Is Kopitar underrated? We’d say Couture is actually more underrated than Kopitar at this point.

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY: