11/11/11: The Official Anze Kopitar Show & Tell Thread Begins!

[Prime B]

It is the perfect day to start a show and tell thread about a player who wears # 11.

Only once in our lifetimes (I think) will we have this date on the calender.

What better date to start a thread dedicated solely to my oldest son Austin's burgeoning PC of his favorite player and buddy, Anze Kopitar?!?!

You all know know Austin from his "AOA: Adventures of Austin" threads which will soon be expanding and retitled to include his new baby brother Blake.

A lot of you also know Austin has one of the better collection's of Kopitar out there. We started collecting Kopitar when he was a rookie in the Fall of 2006.

Here is the story as to why.

Austin had some speech difficulties when he was young, more than most kids his age. We knew something was wrong but weren't sure what? After many years of searching for answers we went through a massive battery of tests and meetings with doctors here in Colorado and he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, a form of Autism, this past January.

So in hindsight it all makes sense.

Back to the story.

Austin couldn't pronounce any multi-syllable words properly during that time period of 2006. Being a huge lifelong Kings fan I watch every game on Center Ice.

I sometimes get fired up and yell at the TV and scream players names. Odd, I know.

Well one night I was yelling Kopitar after he did something amazing. I had a good feeling Kopitar would be a decent player after he was drafted in the 2005 draft, lots of good reports on him.

After I yelled his name I swore Austin repeated it but tried to get him to say it again to no avail.

A few nights later Kopitar scored and again I said his name loud with Austin sitting there. This time I heard a soft little "Kopitar" sputter out of his mouth. I asked him again and he said it!

Soon after I was showing him Kopitar everytime he was on the ice, pointing him out and his number 11 so he would understand who he was cheering for. Within a few weeks he was all over it.

Now he had a player he was cheering for and became a Kings fan by default (though Dad would give him no other choice!) so I figured why not branch out to what Dad has always done when he had a passion for a player?

Collect his hockey cards!

And so it began.

Obviously we started picking up anything and everything and being his rookie year stuff in 2006-07 things were a lot more expensive than now, especially since the economy is even worse.

I also used to do in-person autographs when I was younger and thought this might be another fun, hockey-related thing to do with Austin. Who was our first team? The Kings of course in October of 2006. Austin met his boy Kopi that day and we got an instant classic shot of the two of them:



We saw Kopi later that season in Los Angeles when visiting my family and Kopi gave Austin a rookie year, game used stick since Austin told him he was "his big # 1 fan". The inscription he put on it is awesome:

"To Austin, The Future Hockey Player, All The Best, Anze Kopitar 11"

Here's some shots from that day:









Austin has met up with Anze at least once a year in Denver when the Kings hit town to play the Avalanche. Here are some images:






Austin always reminds Anze that he is his # 1 fan and Kopi knows it. He signed this one for Austin last season to firm the title up.




Anze also asked us a few years back for some images for his official website:

http://anzeseleven.com/pcc.asp#xpath...45217#lang=eng

If you click the link, go to the "Photos" tab, then go to "Eleven Photos", scroll to page 2 where the only folder is "Fan Photos" and lick no that, you'll see some of the corresponding images from above.

I know, you're all hockey card buffs and you want to see some cards right?

Well here is some of the better stuff we have acquired the past 5 years now. Seems like we have been chasing his stuff longer but it's only been 5 years so far. Crazy how many cards have come out in such a short time!

Bookmark or save this one as we will add to this thread as Austin acquires more new stuff of his buddy Anze!

Enjoy the view!

2006-07













SPECIAL thanks to our good friend Mark Bonavita (BreakAwayCards) for the Cup Dual Shield with O'Sullivan and the Honorable Numbers 11 of 11!

2007-08

















2008-09













2009-10










Special thanks to Joel (JoelCarry) for looking out for Austin and helping with this portion of the thread. Thanks so much Joel.

2010-11














Special thanks to Ryan Rajmoolie (Triple B) for his contributions to this portion of the Kopi PC as well as Coops (Breezain) and again Mark Bonavita for all his help looking out for Austin's PC .


Hope you all enjoyed what you have seen so far and please continue to watch Austin's collection of Anze Kopitar grow within this thread!

[fleemur12]

REally superb collection and a very cool story! Great pics with Anze!

[RT28]

Wowzers

[Tivo32]

That may be one of the cooler stories I've heard in sports and definitely the best in collecting! Good luck growing you already awesome collection!

[Jaded]

awesome collection and story

[ColtsD21]

Very cool story! Kopitar is a class act, and great role model for your little man. Go Austin keep collecting those Kopi's. I predict this story might make it into becket one day!

[SkyFire47]

the pic of Kopi and Austin sitting in his stroller with his sippy cup is too freaking ADORABLE. thanks for sharing the extensive Kopic PC too. always wondered what it looked like.

[oilfan10]

I've been following all of your Austin and Kopitar stuff for quite a while now and have already seen most of these photos, but they still amaze me every time. As always, the card collection is amazing, but they really can't beat the special relationship and experiences that Austin has with Anze. Some really fantastic stuff, thanks for sharing!

[bonnev659]

great story and

the Kopic pc is amazing

[Bugjam]

B,
The Dude has the coolest Player Collection that I have ever seen, not just the cards, but the photos, and memories that go with them.

Awesome stuff and best wishes to you and your family.

High Five for The Dude.

Benn