Troy Stecher Shares Humorous Anecdote About Anze Kopitar’s Pool

The Los Angeles Kings faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, and ahead of the game, the Maple Leafs held a practice session on Friday, followed by media availability. During this time, former Kings defenseman Troy Stecher, who played for Los Angeles during the 2021-22 season, took a moment to reflect on his brief time as a teammate of Anze Kopitar and shared an amusing story about the Kings captain.

When asked if he had a memorable moment with Kopitar from his stint with the Kings, Stecher recalled a family barbecue dinner that took place at Kopitar’s home at the end of the season. “Yeah, actually… at the end of the season, we went there for a family barbecue dinner, wrap-up party with all the guys and wives and kids, at his house,” Stecher began. He humorously noted that he had heard about Kopitar’s pool but was surprised to find there was none at first. “I was like, ‘Kopi, where’s your pool?’ And he’s like, ‘follow me,'” Stecher recounted with a smile.

What followed was a demonstration that left Stecher in awe. “He clicked a button, and the ground, like, lowered up, and then the water started to fill in,” he explained, clearly impressed by the elaborate setup. “I was like, ‘this is the NHL, this is really cool.’ So that was a pretty cool memory,” Stecher added, highlighting the unique experience he had with his former teammate.

Throughout his career, Stecher has faced Kopitar not only as a teammate but also as a competitor in the Pacific Division, having played with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Edmonton Oilers. On Saturday, they shared the ice once more in a thrilling overtime battle, which concluded with a 7-6 victory for the Kings. In that high-scoring contest, Stecher logged 21:10 of ice time while Kopitar was just ahead with 21:13.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.