Saku Antero Koivu (pronounced [ˈsɑku ˈkoi̯ʋu]; born 23 November 1974) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played in 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 ten of his 14 years with the club, making his captaincy tenure the longest in the team's history, tied with Jean Béliveau. Koivu was the first European player to captain the Canadiens. He also served as captain of the Finnish national men's ice hockey team from 1998 to 2010, and was inducted into IIHF Hall of Fame in 2017.
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Playing career
TPS (SM-liiga)
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.
Montreal Canadiens
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. He also became the first European-born captain in team history. 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.
After six seasons in the NHL, Koivu was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. 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. Koivu received large numbers of get-well e-mails and letters from fans and was also in touch with Mario Lemieux and John Cullen; hockey centres who had beaten cancer and made successful returns to the NHL.
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. 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).
Anaheim Ducks
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 Canadiens 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. Koivu was named an alternate captain of the Ducks alongside Ryan Getzlaf before the 2009–10 season began. He made his Ducks debut on opening night, October 3, 2009, in a 4–1 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Koivu scored his first goal for Anaheim in the next game on October 6, a 4–3 loss to the Minnesota Wild. Koivu's goal came on the power play in the second period, assisted by James Wisniewski and Ryan Whitney. He registered his first multi-point game on November 5 in a 4–0 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Following the 2009–10 season in which Koivu registered his seventh straight 50-point 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.
On March 12, 2012, Koivu played in his 1,000th career NHL game, a 4–3 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche. He re-signed with the Ducks to a one-year contract on July 4, 2013.
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. 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. On September 10, 2014, Koivu announced his retirement from the NHL after 18 seasons in the league.
International play
Koivu has represented Finland on several occasions and was the national team's captain; he was named successor of long-time captain Timo Jutila after he retired from international play in 1997. Koivu's first duty came in 1998 when the 1998 Winter Olympics took place in Nagano. He has held the post ever since, with one exception—for the 2008 IIHF World Championship—when he joined the team in the middle of the tournament. He was offered the captaincy but declined, pleading, "It would only stir things up and the team has already a great captain, Ville Peltonen."
Koivu won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics and bronze medals at the 1994, 1998, and 2010 Winter Olympics. He was also on the 2004 World Cup team, which advanced to the final but lost against Canada, thus winning silver.
Koivu's most renowned achievement with Finland is as first line centre in the 1995 IIHF World Championship, where the Finns won their first IIHF men's gold medal. Koivu played in the first line with Jere Lehtinen and Ville Peltonen, the "Huey, Dewey and Louie" line, who were all selected as tournament all-stars.
Koivu was regularly partnered with Selänne ande Lehtinen in a line if all three were available. The trio has been a key factor to Finland's success at many bigger events. The line plays mainly to the excellent chemistry Koivu and Selänne seem to have and this has also affected the NHL; after 1999 World Championships, Selänne said in an interview on a Finnish TV program, "It would be great to play with Saku," which led to speculation about Koivu being traded to Anaheim. This finally became true a decade later when Koivu signed with Anaheim in July 2009.
On February 23, 2006, Koivu was elected by his fellow Olympic competitors as a member of the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Personal life
Koivu was born to Jukka and Tuire Koivu on November 23, 1974, in Turku. His younger brother Mikko is also a former ice hockey player, who played for the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Saku Koivu and his wife Hanna have two children, a daughter, Ilona (born 2004) and a son, Aatos (born 2006). Aatos was drafted by the Canadiens in the third round (70th overall) of the 2024 NHL entry draft.
In 2008, the Montreal-based band Simple Plan featured Koivu in its video for the song "Save You." The song was about the battle with cancer of the brother of Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier. Koivu is one of several cancer survivors appearing in the video.
Awards and honors
SM-liiga
Kanada-malja – 1993, 1995
Kultainen kypärä award – 1995
Jari Kurri trophy – 1995
Lasse Oksanen trophy – 1995
Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy – 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
Longest-serving captain in Canadiens history (tied with Jean Béliveau)
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
1998 Winter Olympics top scorer (tied with Teemu Selänne)
2006 Winter Olympics Tournament All-Star
2006 Winter Olympics top scorer (tied with Teemu Selänne)
Captain of Finland national team – 1998–2010
Inducted into IIHF Hall of Fame (2017)