Saku Koivu
November 16, 2007
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Saku Koivu was born on November 23rd, 1974 in Turku, Finland. After spending 3 seasons with the TPS Finnish hockey league from 1992-1995 and winning two Finnish championships in the process, Koivu was drafted by the Habs in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft as their first-round pick. He was named Player of the Year during his third and final season with TPS and began playing for the Canadiens during the 1995-1996 season.
After posting an impressive array of stats during his rookie season, Koivu suffered a knee injury in his second year while leading the league in scoring (13 goals and 25 assists for a total of 38 points). Saku would go on to miss 22 full games that season but still managed 56 points by the end of 1996.
Koivu continued his excellent play and was honored with the title of 27th team captain on September 30th, 2000. He remains to this day the longest running team captain in Canadiens franchise history.
In September of 2001 Koivu was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, causing his to miss nearly the entire 2001-2002 season. Hard work and perseverance helped Saku to a remarkable recovery and he was able to return for the playoffs that season. After helping to lead the Habs to an upset first round victory over the number one ranked Boston Bruins, Saku was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his courage and bravery both on and off the ice that season.
After returning to Finland to play for his old team during the NHL lockout of 2004-2005, Koivu returned to Montreal to rack up an impressive 75 points in the 2006-2007 season. He registered his 500th career point that season with an assist on a goal by Michael Ryder during a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers and received a standing ovation from the 21,273 fans in attendance that evening. His launching that year of the Saku Koivu Foundation for cancer research saw him awarded the King Clancy Trophy in 2007.
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