Hey, how about another one? It’s a second trophy for Anze Kopitar to take home — or, I guess, to ship to Slovenia.
The Lady Byng Trophy, for the player best combining sportsmanship and ability, goes to Anze Kopitar. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/sDFb0jzEbT
— NHL (@NHL) June 23, 2016
Yeah, Kopitar didn’t bother showing up for the NHL Awards in Las Vegas, leaving Luc Robitaille (who you know) and Olivia Culpo (who you don’t) to accept his awards. That doesn’t matter, though, because Kopitar is a perfect gentleman, and he probably hand-wrote a very gracious, apologetic note upon receiving his invitation to Las Vegas. Yes, the Los Angeles Kings forward won the Lady Byng; a year after finishing third in two trophy races, he won them both this season.
This award always feels kind of arbitrary, usually going to a guy who scores a lot of points and doesn’t take a lot of penalties. All three finalists had at least 59 points and fewer than 20 penalty minutes in 2015-16, so you couldn’t have argued with any of the choices. We were particularly pleased with the outcome though.
Lady Byng voting: pic.twitter.com/Eise00TnBN
— Travis Hughes (@TravisSBN) June 23, 2016
It’s a double for Kopitar!