Saku Koivu: Finnish ice hockey player
Saku Antero Koivu (born November 23, 1974 in Turku, Finland) is a former Finnish professional ice hockey player and an alternate captain of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
He began his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1995–96 after three seasons with TPS of the Finnish SM-liiga. Koivu served as the Canadiens' captain for nine of his thirteen seasons with the club (not including the locked-out 2004–05 season), which makes his the second longest captaincy tenure in team history after Jean Béliveau. Koivu was the first European to captain the Montreal Canadiens.
| Saku Koivu | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born | 23 November 1974 Turku, FIN | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 178 lb (81 kg; 12 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Center | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| NHL team Former teams | Anaheim Ducks Montreal Canadiens TPS (SM-liiga) | ||
| National team |  Finland | ||
| NHL Draft | 21st overall, 1993 Montreal Canadiens | ||
| Playing career | 1992–2014 | ||
On September 6, 2001, Koivu was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and he nearly all of the 2001–02 season. After he had been suffering serious pains in his stomach and was vomiting went to see the Canadiens' physician David Mulder, who, after many tests discovered the cancer. He was expected to miss the season but he made a comeback in time for the last few games. The fans gave Koivu an eight-minute standing ovation when he skated onto the Molson Centre ice for the first time on April 9, 2002. For both his courage and his off-ice team leadership while he was undergoing cancer treatment, Koivu was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy following the 2002 playoffs.
Awards and honors
SM-liiga
- 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
NHL
- 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
International
- 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
- Turin 2006 Winter Olympics - Tournament All-Star
- Turin 2006 Winter Olympics - Top scorer
- Captain of Team Finland - 1998-2010
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 | -5 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1993–94 | TPS | SM-L | 47 | 23 | 30 | 53 | 42 | +27 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | ||
| 1994–95 | TPS | SM-L | 45 | 27 | 47 | 74 | 73 | +33 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 16 | ||
| 1995–96 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 82 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 40 | -7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 1996–97 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 50 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 38 | +7 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 1997–98 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 14 | 43 | 57 | 48 | +8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1998–99 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 38 | -7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 24 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 14 | +7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 54 | 17 | 30 | 47 | 40 | +2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | ||
| 2002–03 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 82 | 21 | 50 | 71 | 72 | +5 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 14 | 41 | 55 | 52 | -5 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 10 | ||
| 2004–05 | TPS | SM-l | 20 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 28 | +11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 30 | ||
| 2005–06 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 72 | 17 | 45 | 62 | 70 | +1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 81 | 22 | 53 | 75 | 74 | -21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 77 | 16 | 40 | 56 | 93 | -4 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 2008–09 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 | 16 | 34 | 50 | 44 | +4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2009–10 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 71 | 19 | 33 | 52 | 36 | +14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 75 | 15 | 30 | 45 | 36 | -8 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 2011–12 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 74 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 50 | +7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 47 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 18 | +4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2013–14 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 65 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 46 | +3 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NHL totals | 1124 | 255 | 577 | 832 | 809 | +10 | 80 | 18 | 41 | 59 | 62 | ||||
| SM-L totals | 158 | 61 | 92 | 153 | 171 | +66 | 41 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 64 | ||||
International
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's ice hockey | ||
| Representing Finland | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 | 1994 Lillehammer | |
| | 1998 Nagano | |
 | 2006 Turin | |
| | 2010 Vancouver | |
| World Championships | ||
| | 1994 Italy | |
 | 1995 Sweden | |
| | 1999 Norway | |
| | 2008 Canada | |
| World Cup | ||
| | 2004 World Cup of Hockey | |
| Year | Team | Event | Result | 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 | |
| 2008 | Finland | WC | | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2010 | Finland | OLY | | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| WC totals | 51 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 38 | ||||
| OLY totals | 28 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 34 | ||||
| WCH totals | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | ||||
| Int'l totals | 89 | 30 | 64 | 94 | 78 | ||||
References
Other websites
- Saku Koivu career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
- Saku Koivu on nhlfinns.com
- Saku Koivu at ESPN.com
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