Saku Koivu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| Nickname | Captain K, Sak |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 187 lb (85 kg) |
| NHL Team | Montreal Canadiens |
| Nationality |  Finland |
| Born | November 23, 1974, Turku, FIN |
| NHL Draft | 21st overall, 1993 Montreal Canadiens |
| Pro Career | 1992 – present |
Saku Antero Koivu (born November 23, 1974 in Turku, Finland) is a professional ice hockey player, and plays centre for the Montreal Canadiens as the current team captain. Saku Koivu has a "No Trade Clause" stipulated in his contract.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
[edit] SM-liiga and NHL
Koivu started his professional ice hockey career playing for TPS in the Finnish SM-liiga, in the 1992–1993 season. He spent three seasons with TPS, winning two Finnish championships with the club in 1992 and 1995, and being elected Player of the Year by his fellow players in the 1994–1995 season. He was drafted by the Canadiens in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft as their first-round selection (21st overall), and moved to North America for the 1995-96 season.
Koivu was made captain of the Canadiens in the 99-00 season and has held the post since. After six seasons in the NHL, Koivu was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in September 2001 and missed practically the entire 2001-02 NHL season. He made an amazing recovery and was able to return for the playoffs, leading the Canadiens to an unlikely first-round upset of the number one-ranked Boston Bruins. For his courage and off-ice team leadership while undergoing cancer treatment, he was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy following the 2002 playoffs. He followed up in the 2002-03 NHL season by scoring his career best single-season point total with 71 (21 goals, 50 assists).
During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Koivu returned to Finland to play for TPS, whose head coach at the time was his father, Jukka Koivu. He was joined in Turku by fellow Canadien, and close friend, Craig Rivet.
The 2005-06 NHL season was Koivu's sixth season as the Canadiens captain. His continued tenure seems to have ended a supposed curse of Habs captains. During a ten-year span from 1989 to 1999, six captains were traded away.
The 2006-07 NHL season has been good for Saku Koivu. In a game on January 9, 2007, in which the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2, he registered his 500th NHL point. With 2:47 remaining, Koivu fed Michael Ryder with a pass across the slot for a power-play goal. Koivu received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 21,273 in Montreal.
Koivu remains a close friend of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Mark Recchi, who was once a Canadien and a teammate of Koivu's before Recchi was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.
[edit] Eye injury
On April 26, 2006, during a home playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Koivu sustained a serious injury to his left eye. Hurricanes forward Justin Williams attempted to lift Koivu's stick and struck him in the eye, under the protective visor. "The Canadiens were dumbfounded to learn that no penalty was called as officials failed to witness the play."[1]. Koivu was rushed to the hospital where he would remain overnight and for the remainder of the playoffs. Without Koivu, the Montreal Canadiens went on to lose the series and their chances at a Stanley Cup championship. Williams, as a teammate of Mark Recchi (who played alongside Koivu as a Canadien), attempted to contact Koivu to apologize personally, but was only able to leave him a message on his cell phone.[2] Koivu would remain out of the lineup for the rest of the series and underwent surgery to repair a detached retina in the off-season.
Koivu has admitted to losing some degree of peripheral vision out of the injured eye which he will likely never regain. As well, a small cataract has developed on the eye, though currently he wants to wait until the conclusion of the 2006-2007 NHL season to have it removed. Therefore he is wearing a special contact lens trying to counter-act the cataract.
Koivu's play has demonstrated that he can still complement linemates Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder with seemingly no adverse impact to his performance.[3]. In fact, as of late December 2006, Koivu is on track to achieve the best offensive results of his 11 year NHL career, with 14 goals and 19 assists through 32 games.[4]. Koivu attributes his increased scoring this year to developing a quicker release of the puck, rather than anything to do with his eye injury or other subsequent changes to his play style thereafter. [5]
[edit] International
Koivu has represented Team Finland on several occasions and is the national team's captain. Most recently, he won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and bronze medals at the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics. He was also on the 2004 World Cup team, which advanced to the final but lost against Canada, thereby winning the silver medal.
Koivu's most renowned achievement with Team Finland is as first line center in the 1995 IIHF World Championships, where Finland won its only IIHF men's gold medal to date. Koivu played in the first line with Jere Lehtinen and Ville Peltonen (the "Huey, Dewey, and Louie" line [6]), who were all selected as tournament all-stars.
On February 23, 2006, Koivu was elected by his fellow Olympic competitors as a member of the Athletes' Commission of the IOC.
[edit] Awards
- Ice Hockey World Championships Tournament All-Star - 1995
- Kultainen kypärä award - 1995
- Jari Kurri trophy - 1995
- Lasse Oksanen trophy - 1995
- Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy - 1995
- Bill Masterton Trophy - 2002
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1992-93 | TPS | SM-l | 46 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 28 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1993-94 | TPS | SM-l | 47 | 23 | 30 | 53 | 42 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | ||
| 1994-95 | TPS | SM-l | 45 | 27 | 47 | 74 | 73 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 16 | ||
| 1995-96 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 82 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 40 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 1996-97 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 50 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 1997-98 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 14 | 43 | 57 | 48 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1998-99 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 38 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 24 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 54 | 17 | 30 | 47 | 40 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001-02 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | ||
| 2002-03 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 82 | 21 | 50 | 71 | 72 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 14 | 41 | 55 | 52 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 10 | ||
| 2004-05 | TPS | SM-l | 20 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 28 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 30 | ||
| 2005-06 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 72 | 17 | 45 | 62 | 70 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| NHL Career Totals | 608 | 152 | 347 | 499 | 444 | 43 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 36 | ||||
[edit] International play
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Ice hockey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 1994 Lillehammer | Ice hockey | |
| Bronze | 1998 Nagano | Ice hockey | |
| Silver | 2006 Turin | Ice hockey | |
Played for Finland in:
- 1993 World Championships
- 1994 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
- 1994 World Championships (silver medal)
- 1995 World Championships (gold medal)
- 1996 World Cup of Hockey
- 1997 World Championships
- 1998 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
- 1999 World Championships (silver medal)
- 2003 World Championships
- 2004 World Cup of Hockey (silver medal)
- 2006 Winter Olympics (silver medal)
[edit] International statistics
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Finland | WC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1994 | Finland | OLY | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| 1994 | Finland | WC | 8 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| 1995 | Finland | WC | 8 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 18 |
| 1996 | Finland | WCH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 1997 | Finland | WC | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 1998 | Finland | OLY | 6 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
| 1999 | Finland | WC | 10 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 4 |
| 2003 | Finland | WC | 7 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 4 |
| 2004 | Finland | WCH | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 2006 | Finland | OLY | 8 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 12 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Saku Koivu on nhlfinns.com
- ESPN.com profile
| Preceded by Vincent Damphousse |
Montreal Canadiens Captains 1999 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Esa Keskinen |
Winner of the Kultainen kypärä 1994-95 |
Succeeded by Juha Riihijärvi |
| Preceded by Adam Graves |
Bill Masterton Trophy Winner 2002 |
Succeeded by Steve Yzerman |
| Preceded by Ari Sulander |
Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy 1994-95 |
Succeeded by Petri Varis |
| Preceded by Esa Keskinen |
Winner of the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy 1994-95 |
Succeeded by Juha Riihijärvi |
| Preceded by Teemu Selänne |
Winner of the President's trophy 1998-99 |
Succeeded by Esa Tikkanen |
Categories: 1974 births | Bill Masterton Trophy winners | Cancer survivors | Finnish expatriates in Canada | Finnish ice hockey players | Finnish ice hockey world championship gold medalists | Competitors at the 1994 Winter Olympics | Competitors at the 1998 Winter Olympics | Hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics | IOC members | Living people | Montreal Canadiens draft picks | Montreal Canadiens players | National Hockey League All-Stars | National Hockey League first round draft picks | Olympic bronze medalists for Finland | Olympic competitors for Finland | Olympic silver medalists for Finland | People from Turku | TPS players | Winter Olympics medalists
