Kopitar announced his resignation on Monday evening after Slovenia's 1:0 win against Denmark to wrap up the championship. The win meant nothing as the Slovenians had already been eliminated from the elite group after taking six straight losses in Group B.

"My story with this national team has ended. Unfortunately, there are so many negative characters in Slovenia, and if they can live with that, let them live with that," he said bitterly, suggesting that the public criticism of Slovenia's play might have contributed to the decision.

The father of Slovenia's best ice hockey player, Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, who took over five years ago, had actually decided to leave the team as the unsuccessful appearance at the world championships progressed.

"I wanted to quit already last year after Korea, which was a huge success for me. I saw then there was hope that we can upgrade our game. But we failed to upgrade it here. I had hoped that we would at least stay in the group. Unfortunately, we have failed and now I'm leaving."

Slovenia were faced with great expectations after they secured a berth in the ice hockey elite at the World Division I Ice Hockey Championships in South Korea last year and after the historic appearance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, at which they made it to the quarter-finals.