Anze Kopitar spotted drinking Pepto-Bismol on the bench

During Tuesday night’s matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets, something unusual happened on the Kings’ bench: Anze Kopitar was spotted sipping from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. Why, you might ask? There must be a good reason.

The first reason is the most obvious reason. Kopitar was dealing with a bad stomach and needed something to soothe his digestive path. Chalk it up as a bad pre-game meal? We’ll see about that.

According to an article from the Los Angeles Kings, Anze Kopitar’s pre-game meal is gluten-free pasta with pink sauce and chicken on top. One logical theory is that Kopitar has a slight gluten intolerance, and the pasta which was prepared for him could have been mixed up with regular wheat-flour pasta. Either that, or the chicken or pink sauce was ill-prepared. All reasonable explanations for Kopitar’s upset stomach.

An idea which can be squashed almost immediately is that the 30-year old really enjoys Pepto Bismol. A common side effect of extreme Pepto usage is black tongue. Kopitar does not have black tongue. Next theory.

Perhaps the Kings star feels he gains a competitive edge when he absorbs the substance. A placebo? Sure. It could be a psychological advantage the Slovenian forward feels he gains when drinking Pepto. It surely is not a performance enhancer as the main component of the pink drink is Bismuth subsalicylate which provides no energy or athletic performance-based enhancements.

Lastly, the star forward who has set a personal single-season record for most points in a season feels like his play is not being talked about enough. Much like the two Sacramento fans eating mayo, Kopitar may have pulled this stunt to gain some media attention. If the Kings captain did this in order to make fans more aware that he is 7th in overall NHL scoring, it was a laudable effort. Clearly it worked.