Mikko Koivu

Mikko Koivu
Born	(1983-03-12) March 12, 1983 Turku, Finland
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	222 lb (101 kg; 15 st 12 lb)
Position	Center
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Minnesota Wild TPS
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	1st round, 6th overall, 2001 Minnesota Wild
Playing career	2000–present

Mikko Sakari Koivu (born March 12, 1983) is a Finnish professional ice hockey center currently playing for, and serving as captain of, the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Koivu was drafted sixth overall in 2001 by the Wild, and has spent his entire NHL career with Minnesota.

Internationally, Koivu served as captain of the gold medal-winning Finnish national team at the 2011 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

Playing career

After playing in the Finnish junior leagues, Koivu began playing for TPS of the SM-liiga as a 17-year-old in the 2000–01 season, the same team for which older brother Saku also once played. He was selected sixth overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild and continued to play with TPS for three more seasons.

Koivu moved to North America in the 2004–05 to play for Minnesota's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Houston Aeros, while that NHL season was canceled. The next season, he made his NHL debut with the Wild, scoring 21 points in his rookie season.

In 2006–07, Koivu improved to a career-high 20 goals, 34 assists and 54 points. Injuries slowed him down in his third season, however; in a game against the Vancouver Canucks, defenceman Mattias Öhlund retaliated to an unpenalized elbow from Koivu and slashed him, breaking a bone in Koivu's leg. Öhlund was given a four-game suspension and Koivu missed 24 games as a result of the injury.^[1]

Koivu faces off against Carolina's Jussi Jokinen

Before the 2008–09 season commenced, Koivu was announced as a permanent alternate captain for the entire season, along with teammate Andrew Brunette,^[2] assuming they were not captain for the month (the Wild captaincy was rotated among the players on a monthly basis, each season). But Koivu started the 2008–09 season as team captain for the months of October^[3] and November.^[4] Though rumors swirled that then-Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire was close to ending the captain rotation and naming Koivu the permanent captain, he was replaced by Kim Johnsson in December, reverting to his role as alternate captain. In January 2009, Koivu was once again honoured with the Wild captaincy after only a month's hiatus.^[5]

On October 16, 2008, Koivu tied a Wild franchise record for most assists in a game with four against the Florida Panthers. He also added a goal for a career-high five-point game as the Wild defeated Florida 6–2.^[6] In July 2009, it was announced that Koivu would be on the cover of Finland's version of EA Sports' video game NHL 10. He was also voted the best Finn in the League by NHL.com.

Koivu was named the first permanent captain in Wild franchise history on October 20, 2009, and during the ensuing off-season, he signed a then-franchise-record seven-year, $47 million contract extension on July 16, 2010, which went into effect during the 2011–12 season.^[7]

On January 12, 2012, Koivu was selected to his first NHL All-Star Game.^[8] However, he was unable to participate due to injury.

On March 18, 2014, Koivu recorded three points in a 6–0 win over the New York Islanders, in the process becoming the Wild's all-time leading scorer with 438 points in 588 games.^[9]

International play

Koivu at the 2008 World Championships
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for  Finland
Olympic Games
	2006 Turin
	2010 Vancouver
World Championships
	2011 Bratislava
	2007 Moscow
	2006 Riga
	2008 Halifax
World Cup
	2004 Canada
World Junior Championships
	2001 Moscow
	2002 Czech Republic
World Junior U18 Championships
	2000 Switzerland
	2001 Finland

As a junior, Koivu competed in two World Junior U18 Championships, capturing gold in 2000 and bronze in 2001. Koivu did double duty in 2001, also participating in the World Junior Championships, earning a silver medal while contributing three assists.

He played in his second World Junior Championship the following year in 2002, tallying five points in six games as Finland captured another silver medal. It also marked Koivu's fourth and final medal in junior international play. These junior years also marked the start for Koivu's long-time collaboration in the national team with Tuomo Ruutu, with whom he has been often paired as an effective playmaker-scorer duo ever since, in similar manner as his older brother Saku usually found himself with Teemu Selänne.

Before making his North American debut in the AHL, Koivu competed in the 2004 World Cup as Finland finished runner-up to Canada. Two years later, he appeared in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Koivu failed to register a point as Finland finished with a silver medal.

Beginning in 2006, Koivu appeared in three consecutive World Championships. He helped Finland to a bronze medal in 2006 with four points, then matched his output the following year with another four points in 2007 as Finland improved to a silver medal. In the 2008 World Championships, Koivu became a key contributor, tallying an international career-high nine points in nine games as Finland won the bronze medal. He was asked to join the team in 2009, and again in 2010, but he had to decline both times due to injuries.

Koivu was part of the team that won the bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In 2011, Koivu was able to accept the invitation and led Finland, as the captain of the team, to its second gold medal at World Championships.

Koivu was also selected to represent Finland at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, but was forced to withdraw from the squad due to an injury sustained in the NHL.

Personal

On or off the ice, Koivu is known to be extremely competitive. Koivu's older brother is Saku Koivu, the longtime captain of the Montreal Canadiens and alternate captain for the Anaheim Ducks before his retirement in 2014. Their father is Jukka Koivu, the former head coach of TPS, for which both Saku and Mikko have played. A number of Koivu's friends include Tuomo Ruutu of the New Jersey Devils and Koivu's former Minnesota teammate, Kurtis Foster.

Koivu spends summers with his family and friends in his hometown of Turku, Finland. He owns a suite in the Xcel Energy Center, which he shares with teammate Niklas Bäckström and former teammate Nick Schultz, called M&N's Suite 4 Kids, and the group donates it to children with serious medical conditions. Koivu served in the Finnish Army during the summer of 2011 as a conscript.^[10] On October 14, 2011, Koivu donated two rooms to the Minnesota Children's Hospital epilepsy and neurological unit.

Koivu is married to Helena Koivu (née Kipper). They have one daughter, Sofie, born in September 2013, ^[11] and one son, Kasper Antero Koivu born May 18, 2015.

Records and awards

• Minnesota Wild franchise record for most assists in a game (tied) – 4 (October 16, 2008, against the Florida Panthers and again on January 2, 2011, against the Phoenix Coyotes).
• First ever permanent captain for the Minnesota Wild (October 20, 2009).
• Selected to play in 2012 NHL All-Star Game, but unable to play due to injury.
• World Championship 2011 (as captain of team Finland).
• Minnesota Wild all-time franchise points leader (452 as of 2013–14 season)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

See also

• Notable families in the NHL

References

External links

• Mikko Koivu at the Minnesota Wild Official website
• Mikko Koivu's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

NOTE: In March and April 2009, and then for the start of October 2009, Mikko Koivu was captain as part of the Minnesota Wild's rotating captaincy. Early in the 2009–10 season, the Wild ended the rotating captaincy policy and Koivu was named as the Wild's first permanent captain.