Saku Koivu

Koivu began his professional ice hockey career playing for TPS in the Finnish SM-liiga, beginning in 1992–93. He posted ten points in his rookie season, including five points in the playoffs, to help TPS to a Kanada-malja championship. After improving to 53 points the following season, he put up a league-high 73 points in 1994–95. In addition to earning the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy as league scoring champion, Koivu was awarded the Kultainen kypärä award as the players' choice for the best player and the Lasse Oksanen trophy as league MVP. He went on to record 17 points in 13 post-season games that year to earn the Jari Kurri trophy as playoff MVP and win his second Kanada-malja trophy in three years with TPS.

Koivu would return to the TPS squad during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, scoring eight goals and eight assists in 20 games.

Koivu was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, following his rookie season in the SM-liiga, as their first round selection, 21st overall. After two more seasons with TPS, Koivu moved to North America for the 1995–96 season to join the Canadiens. In his first season, Koivu ranked fourth in scoring amongst NHL rookies with 45 points in 82 games. The following season, he was amongst the NHL leading scorers (13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points) before suffering a knee injury on December 7, 1996, in a game against Chicago Blackhawks. He missed 32 games that season but returned to finish with 56 points in 50 games.

The next two seasons, Koivu continued to miss time with various leg injuries. In each year, however, he managed to play in more than 60 regular season games, scoring 57 and 44 points in 1997–98 and 1998–99 respectively. With the departure of team captain Vincent Damphousse in 1998–99, Koivu was named the 27th captain for the Canadiens on September 30, 1999.[1] He also became the first European-born captain in team history.[2] His first season as captain, however, was cut short due to a dislocated shoulder that took him off the ice for 40 games. Upon returning, he suffered another knee injury, resulting in a shortened 24-game season, in which Koivu recorded 21 points. The next season, in 2000–01, Koivu sat out another 28 games after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, limiting him to 47 points.

Koivu being escorted to the penalty box by two referees during his career with the Montreal Canadiens.

After six seasons in the NHL, Koivu was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.[3] on September 6, 2001, and missed nearly the entire 2001–02 season. Koivu was on his way back from Finland with Canadiens teammate Brian Savage, who said he looked pale. He was suffering serious stomach pains and vomiting and went to see the Canadiens' physician David Mulder, who, after several tests, discovered the cancer.[4] Koivu received large numbers of get-well e-mails and letters from fans[5] and was also in touch with Mario Lemieux and John Cullen; hockey centres who had beaten cancer and made successful returns to the NHL.

Zdeno Chára and Saku Koivu

Koivu was expected to be out for the season but made a remarkable comeback in time for the last few games. Fans gave Koivu an eight-minute standing ovation when he skated onto the Molson Centre ice for the first time on April 9, 2002, in the team's 80th game of the season.[6] Koivu helped the team to gain a playoff spot and they went on to beat the top-seeded Boston Bruins in six games. 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 2002–03 by scoring what was then a career-best 71 points (21 goals and 50 assists).

Koivu suffered further knee problems in 2003–04 and was forced to miss 13 games. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he returned to Finland to play for TPS, whose head coach at the time was his father, Jukka Koivu. He was joined in Turku by Canadiens teammate Craig Rivet. When NHL play resumed in 2005–06, Koivu returned to the Canadiens to tally 62 points in 72 games. On April 26, 2006, however, 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 but instead struck him in the eye.[7] Koivu was rushed to the hospital, where he would remain overnight and for the remainder of the playoffs. He remained out of the lineup for the rest of the series and underwent surgery to repair a detached retina during the off-season.

Koivu has admitted to having lost some degree of peripheral vision out of the injured eye which he will likely never regain. As well, a small cataract developed following the retinal re-attachment surgery that was later successfully removed.[8] He has since opted to wear a larger style of visor than he had previously worn.

Koivu's play the next season demonstrated that he could still complement his linemates with seemingly no adverse impact to his performance.[9] He reached the 500-point mark for his NHL career on January 9, 2007, in a game in which the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 4–2. With 2:47 remaining in regulation, Koivu fed Michael Ryder with a pass across the slot for a power play goal, prompting a standing ovation for Koivu from the sellout crowd of 21,273 in Montreal. He went on to score 22 goals and 53 assists in 81 games, totaling 75 points, to surpass his previous career-high. At the season's annual awards banquet, Koivu was announced as the winner of the King Clancy Trophy for his role in the cancer-fighting Saku Koivu Foundation. The Canadiens' team doctor, Dr. David Mulder, received the award on Koivu's behalf as he was not present. Waiting until the end of the season, Koivu underwent further surgery to his eye and also tried a contact lens design to counteract the cataract's effects.[10]

Early in the 2007–08 season in October, Koivu was criticized by nationalist lawyer Guy Bertrand for not speaking French in a videotaped pre-game ceremony. Although Koivu is fluent in English, Swedish and Finnish, he speaks limited French and is apprehensive about using it in public.[11] He replied to Bertrand's remarks that he is not perfect, and jokingly mentioned that he speaks French to his wife during intimate moments.[12] Koivu introduced his team in the next pre-game video with the phrase "Ici Saku Koivu, voici mon équipe" ("Saku Koivu here, this is my team").[11] Later that season, in NHL.com's March 2008 edition of Impact! Magazine, Brian Compton listed the ten best captains of all-time since Steve Yzerman was first named captain of the Detroit Red Wings in 1986; Koivu was included in the article in tenth place, behind the likes of Mark Messier and Mario Lemieux.[13] He finished the season with 56 points. In the subsequent 2008 playoffs, Koivu missed a few games with a broken foot. Nevertheless, he contributed 9 points in 7 games.

Koivu faces off with Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks in 2009.

On October 18, 2008, Koivu moved up to seventh on the Canadiens' all-time assists list, surpassing Maurice "Rocket" Richard in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes; Koivu netted one and assisted on two from newly acquired linemate Alex Tanguay when the Habs beat Coyotes 4–1.[14] Koivu reached another milestone with his 600th career point the following game against the Florida Panthers on October 20, 2008.[15]

Upon the conclusion of the 2008–09 season, Koivu tied Jean Béliveau as the longest-serving captain in team history, having held the position for ten years. Koivu's tenure ended a ten-year period from 1999 to 2009 in which six Canadien team captains had previously been traded away. Becoming an unrestricted free agent in the off-season, Koivu and the Canadiens parted ways after 14 years, where on July 8, 2009, he signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Anaheim Ducks, playing alongside countryman and fellow NHL veteran Teemu Selänne.[2] Koivu was named an alternate captain of the Ducks before the 2009–10 season began.

Following the 2009–10 season, Koivu re-signed with the Ducks for two more seasons. He continued to serve as an alternate captain for the Ducks alongside Selänne.

On January 22, 2011, during the 2010–11 season, Koivu made his first return to Montreal as a member of the Ducks, and was welcomed by a standing ovation.[16]

On March 12, 2012, Koivu played in his 1,000th career NHL game.

On October 24, 2013, Koivu returned to Montreal for a second time as a Duck, and was once again welcomed by a standing ovation in what would be his last game at the Bell Centre.[17] In the 2013–14 season, Koivu appeared in 65 regular season games while recording 29 points (11 goals and 18 assists). On June 19, 2014, the Ducks announced that they would not be offering Koivu a contract for the 2014–15 season, making him a free agent.[18]

On September 10, 2014, Koivu announced his retirement from the NHL after 18 seasons in the League.[19]

• Kanada-malja (Finnish Ice hockey champion) – 1992–93, 1994–95
• Kultainen kypärä award (Players choice for the best player) – 1995
• Jari Kurri trophy (Best player in playoffs) – 1995
• Lasse Oksanen trophy (Most valuable player) – 1995
• Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy (Most points in regular season) – 1995
• President's Trophy – 1999

• Voted to the NHL All-Star Game by the fans – 1998, 2003 (did not play due to injury)
• Bill Masterton Trophy – 2002
• King Clancy Memorial Trophy – 2007
• First ever European-born captain of the Montreal Canadiens – 1999–2009
• Longest-serving captain in Canadiens history (tied with Jean Béliveau)

• Ice Hockey World Championships Tournament All-Star – 1994, 1995, 1999
• Ice Hockey World Championships Tournament's Best Forward – 1995, 1999
• Ice Hockey World Championships Tournament's Top scorer – 1999
• Finnish Ice hockey player of the year – 1994, 1995
• Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics - Top scorer (Tied with Teemu Selänne)
• Turin 2006 Winter Olympics – Tournament All-Star
• Turin 2006 Winter Olympics – Top scorer (Tied with Teemu Selänne)
• Captain of Team Finland – 1998–2010
• Inducted into IIHF Hall Of Fame - 2017