When the Winter Olympics begin this Friday, February 12, in Vancouver, Canada, all of the big names like Shaun White and Apollo Ohno will be there, representing the United States.

Even in hockey, the big names like Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist, and Alex Ovechkin will be carrying the flags of Canada, Sweden and Russia, respectively. We might even have a Jamaican bobsled sighting, also.

There's one athlete who won't be there, however, and that's a shame. He's one of the best players in the NHL that many hockey fans on the east coast don't know even about.

Hockey fans on the west coast do, though. It's Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings.

Yes, those Kings, who seem to be the forgotten hockey stepchild in California.

The Kings used to be the laughingstock of California hockey, what with the successes of the San Jose Sharks and their hockey brethren down the 405 Freeway, the Ducks of Anaheim.

However, after defeating the Detroit Red Wings last Saturday and holding onto a possible playoff spot if the playoffs were held today, no one is laughing at the Kings anymore.

Kopitar is the leading scorer on the team and he should be going to the Olympics, but he isn't.

It's not that he wasn't invited though. He would have been if his country had a hockey team.

His country is Slovenia, which is not to be confused with the country of Slovakia, one of the countries in contention to medal in Olympic hockey.

He just might be the only player from that country to play hockey right now.

He's not upset, though. For his two weeks off, he's going to be really productive. He's going to Aspen, Colo. to do some skiing.