Player Discussion Mikko Koivu (Part II)

[Chelis Chili]

KOIVU REACHES 1,000-GAME MILESTONE
Wild captain Mikko Koivu (0-1—1) skated in the 1,000th regular-season game of his NHL career and became the first player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

* Koivu, who made his League debut five years after the franchise’s inaugural season in 2000-01, has appeared in 68.1% of the all-time regular-season games contested by the Wild (1,000 of 1,469). That represents the second-highest such percentage by a player with an NHL franchise (min. 1,000 GP contested by club), behind only Patrick Marleau with San Jose (69.7%; 1,517 of 2,176).

* Koivu and his brother, Saku (1,124 GP), became the sixth set of siblings in NHL history to each skate 1,000 or more regular-season games.

* Aside from the Koivu brothers, only five other Finnish-born players in NHL history have reached the 1,000-game milestone: Teemu Selanne (1,451 GP), Teppo Numminen (1,372 GP), Jari Kurri (1,251 GP), Olli Jokinen (1,231 GP) and Kimmo Timonen (1,108 GP).

 

[Uberdachen]

Watching Koivu smile fills me with the same kind of dread as when they are defrosting Santa in Rare Exports.

 

[NHL1674]

Got an email from the Wild today....just a heads up.....Koivu's 1000 game celebration is December 10th. It says all fans in attendance will get a limited edition Koivu canvas print when leaving the game.

 

[TaLoN]

 

[MoeTheHobo]

Koivu smiling this much was weird. Bäckström and Koivu sharing some laughs was even weirder

 

[TaLoN]

“Obviously emotional when you see your family coming in,” Koivu said. “That kind of actually relaxed me a little bit there. It was kind of weird not (being) in the warmup and not getting ready for the game. That’s not the fun part. Once I saw them, my family, I got a little bit more calm. But when (Backstrom, Brodziak, Gaborik and Schultz) came out after that, I don’t remember anything. It was a surprise.”

Originally, the plan was for Koivu’s ex-teammates to slip into the loading docks of Xcel Energy Center at 6:28 p.m. when warmups began.

But now Koivu wouldn’t be in warmups and worse would just be loitering in the hallways in the bowels of the arena as he waited for his ceremony. So, the Wild approached Koivu with a brilliant idea of taking part in the ceremony by putting on his full gear and skating out to the carpet.

This way, when warmups began, Koivu could enter the locker room and get suited up. At that point, Backstrom, Brodziak, Gaborik and Schultz could enter the arena and hustle into the office of Andrew Heydt, the Wild’s director of team operations and player relations, where they’d hide out until Koivu walked down the tunnel to the Wild bench.

“I thought it was a cool idea (to skate onto the ice) … just for me and when I look back that I was actually in my gear,” Koivu said. “That was the one thing that I was kind of bummed about when I get a little bit of an injury and know I can’t play. It’s something that I obviously wanted to be a part of (in full uniform).”

 

[TaLoN]

 

[57special]

I think he needs to heal up during the off season, both physically and emotionally. Probably forgo a decision till the fall or late summer. I still think he might have a decent year left in him, and that his poor play recently has been caused by factors discussed elsewhere.

 

[grN1g]

He can still play... for a playoff team 4th line shutdown and PK role. His game hinders offense and if you are trying to have a 3 scoring line team his real role should be that of a top 4th line center role but can he accept that?

 

[SupremeNachos]

Starting to show flashes of his old self the last few games. I for one am happy that he stayed put.

 

[57special]

He looks completely different out there. He is playing freely. He's had two no look passes to Hartman for a goal in as many days.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I'd be curious how much is just him playing through that groin injury in Dec or just stress of trade deadline coming off.

Personally, I hope they can work out a deal for him to stay another year in a limited roll. 1million base pay, and additional million for 65 games played, 10 goals and 20 assists for a total of 4 million possible compensation.

I understandably doubt most fans feel the same.

 

[TaLoN]

 

[AJ Thelen]

The injury problems explains some of his struggles.

Hopefully this divorce thing isn't ruining his joy of playing.

Hope he takes one more year on a cheap contract.

 

[Minnesnota]

The injury problems explains some of his struggles.

Hopefully this divorce thing isn't ruining his joy of playing.

Hope he takes one more year on a cheap contract.

How does a divorce in Finland work? Wife gets half?

 

[AJ Thelen]

How does a divorce in Finland work? Wife gets half?

No clue how Finland does it.

Norway the other half gets 50% unless there is a certain agreement written and signed by both parties that says something else. Finland might be similar..

 

[Spurgeon]

With our current center situation, I don't have any problem with bringing him back on a 1-year deal if he wants to continue playing. If he signs for like $2M, I don't think you're not going to find a better defensive center at that price point (and we should have the cap to burn).

Next season:

Kaprizov - Staal - Fiala

Parise - Ek - Kunin

Donato - Galchenyuk - Zuccarello

Foligno - Koivu - Hartman/Greenway

That 4th line seems like it'd dominate in a lot of situations.

 

[MuckOG]

With our current center situation, I don't have any problem with bringing him back on a 1-year deal if he wants to continue playing. If he signs for like $2M, I don't think you're not going to find a better defensive center at that price point (and we should have the cap to burn).

Next season:

Kaprizov - Staal - Fiala

Parise - Ek - Kunin

Donato - Galchenyuk - Zuccarello

Foligno - Koivu - Hartman/Greenway

That 4th line seems like it'd dominate in a lot of situations.

I'm interested to see if Sturm can do a better job in the 4th line center role than Koivu.

 

[TaLoN]

I'm interested to see if Sturm can do a better job in the 4th line center role than Koivu.

Koivu was playing some really good hockey when the league shutdown. I have a hard time believing Sturm could match that level of play yet.

I would gladly take Koivu for another year to play on the 4th line on a cheap deal.

 

[grN1g]

I'm still fine with sticking with Koivu being our tweener 2/3 C for another year if needed if we can't get something better.

 

[57special]

Koivu would be better than any C not named Staal and Ek, and on some days he'd be better than them. I am all for signing him as long as it is a;
- short term
- somewhere around 2M, but with sizeable bonuses for GP, and points.
- no NMC!

Galchenyuk has had a couple of pretty bad years. Wild are his 4th team, and he is still relatively young. There is a reason that teams move on from him. He should only be signed on a cheap, prove it deal.
Strome has to show a hell of a lot more before he bumps Koivu out of the lineup. He's not even a proven NHL'er at this point. I know that Koivu has slowed down, but some of you are taking him for granted, and giving relative nobodies way too much credit.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Koivu would be better than any C not named Staal and Ek, and on some days he'd be better than them. I am all for signing him as long as it is a;
- short term
- somewhere around 2M, but with sizeable bonuses for GP, and points.
- no NMC!

Galchenyuk has had a couple of pretty bad years. Wild are his 4th team, and he is still relatively young. There is a reason that teams move on from him. He should only be signed on a cheap, prove it deal.
Strome has to show a hell of a lot more before he bumps Koivu out of the lineup. He's not even a proven NHL'er at this point. I know that Koivu has slowed down, but some of you are taking him for granted, and giving relative nobodies way too much credit.

Huh?

 

[AKL]

Huh?

He puts way too much emphasis on defense, are you really that shocked?

 

[2Pair]

Huh?

I think he's talking about Sturm, but it's hard to tell sometimes with him

 

[AKL]

I think he's talking about Sturm, but it's hard to tell sometimes with him

That makes slightly more sense