Kings set franchise celebration for Anze Kopitar, Canadiens to be in the building Feb. 24, 2027

The Los Angeles Kings have scheduled a major franchise milestone for next season, planning to retire Anze Kopitar’s No. 11 and mark the occasion with a bronze statue honoring the team’s all-time scoring leader. The event will take place on February 24, 2027, when the Kings host the Montreal Canadiens, giving Montreal a front-row seat to one of the league’s most carefully curated jersey ceremonies.

The ceremony pairs two elements that have become a signature for Los Angeles: retirement recognition for a former captain and an added physical tribute that extends the celebration beyond the ice. According to the announcement reported by Yahoo Sports, the statue will depict Kopitar as the most productive scorer in Kings history, with the artwork joining other Kings legends already represented in the franchise’s public hall of fame-style lineup of statues.

For the Canadiens, the timing creates a rare intersection of two storied traditions. Yahoo Sports describes Montreal as especially known for jersey retirement nights, and this particular date places the Canadiens in Los Angeles during a ceremony centered on one player whose career is intertwined with the modern era of Canadian NHL hockey culture.

Kopitar’s No. 11 retirement will also add to a growing list of Kings numbers that have already been retired by the franchise. Yahoo Sports reported that Los Angeles will make this the franchise’s eighth retired number, following Rob Blake (4), Marcel Dionne (16), Dave Taylor (18), Luc Robitaille (20), Dustin Brown (23), Rogie Vachon (30), and Wayne Gretzky (99).

There is also a parallel story running through the Kings’ offseason narrative: the franchise is expanding its visual legacy work. The report notes that the Kings’ bronze statue program is already established, with the piece depicting Dustin Brown unveiled in 2023 and earlier statues honoring Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, and others. Kopitar’s statue would therefore function as both a capstone to his playing résumé and another brick in the team’s longer-term commemorative project.

The date matters for team planning in a straightforward way. Feb. 24, 2027 is a regular-season contest by calendar design, but the ceremonial emphasis could shape pregame routines and arena atmosphere for both clubs and provide a focused storyline during a portion of the season when every point can matter for playoff positioning.

Whether Kopitar’s case resonates most as an example of Kings captaincy or as a broader franchise template for how Los Angeles builds multi-year legacy moments, the Canadiens’ presence on that calendar makes Montreal part of the event’s optics. For Canadiens fans, it is also a reminder that the league’s history is increasingly told not only through retired numbers, but through statues, placement decisions, and the way visiting franchises are woven into the main stage.

Looking ahead, the most practical thing to watch is how both teams handle the spotlight once the season nears. For Los Angeles, the retirement week will likely become a cornerstone of its identity-building for the year. For Montreal, the focus will be split between honoring the moment in Los Angeles and treating the visit as the kind of game that could have real playoff implications later in the season.