Saku Koivu
| Saku Koivu | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
November 23, 1974 Turku, FIN | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| NHL team | Montreal Canadiens | ||
| NHL draft |
21st overall, 1993 Montreal Canadiens | ||
| Playing career | 1992–present | ||
Saku Koivu (born November 23, 1974 in Turku, Finland) is a professional ice hockey player.
Playing career
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 , 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. His younger brother, Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu, also played for TPS during the lockout. He was joined in Turku by fellow Canadien 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.
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.
Eye injury
On April 26, 2006, during a home playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Koivu sustained a serious injury in his left eye. Hurricanes forward Justin Williams tried to lift Koivu's stick and struck him in the eye, under the protective visor. Koivu was rushed to the hospital where he would remain overnight. 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, attempted to contact Koivu to apologize personally, but was only able to leave him a phone message.[1] 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's eye continues to heal as he spends his offseason in Finland. Although expected to make a full recovery by the beginning of the 2006-07 season, there are doubts as Koivu is reportedly still concerned that the eye has not recovered fully [2].
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 [3]), 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.
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
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 | 569 | 137 | 323 | 460 | 412 | 43 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 36 | ||||
International play
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Ice hockey | ||
 |
1994 Lillehammer | Ice hockey |
|
1998 Nagano | Ice hockey |
 |
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)
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 |
See also
External links
- Saku Koivu on nhlfinns.com
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- 1974 births
- Bill Masterton Trophy winners
- 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
- Living people
- Montreal Canadians draft picks
- Montreal Canadiens players
- People from Turku
- SM-liiga players
- TPS players
- Winter Olympics medalists
- Olympic silver medalists for Finland
- Olympic bronze medalists for Finland
- Olympic competitors for Finland
- Finnish Canadians
- IOC members