Born	March 12, 1983 (1983-03-12) (age 26), Turku, FIN
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
NHL team	Minnesota Wild
Ntl. team	Finland
NHL Draft	6th overall, 2001 Minnesota Wild
Pro career	2000 – present

Mikko Sakari Koivu (born March 12, 1983 in Turku, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey centre and team captain for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Contents 1 Playing career 2 International play 3 Records 4 Career statistics 5 Personal 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Playing career

After playing in the Finnish junior leagues, Koivu began playing for TPS of the SM-liiga as a seventeen-year-old in 2000–01. He was selected 6th overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild and continued to play with TPS Turku for three more seasons.

Koivu moved to North America in the 2004–05 to play for Minnesota's AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros. The next season, he made his NHL debut with the Wild, scoring 21 points in his rookie season. In 2006–07, Koivu improved to a career-high 20 goals, 34 assists and 54 points. Injuries slowed him down in his third season; in a game against the Vancouver Canucks, defenceman Mattias Öhlund retaliated to an unpenalized elbow from Koivu and slashed him, breaking a bone in Koivu's leg. Ohlund was given a four game suspension and Koivu missed 24 games.^[1]

Before the 2008–09 season started, Koivu was announced as a permanent alternate captain for the entire season along with teammate Andrew Brunette ^[2], assuming they weren't captain for the month. But Koivu started the 2008–09 season as team captain for the months of October^[3] and November.^[4] Though rumors swirled that former Wild coach Jacques Lemaire was close stopping rotating the captaincy and naming Koivu the permantant captain, he was replaced by Kim Johnsson in December, and went back to his role as alternate captain. In January 2009, Koivu was once again honored with the Wild captaincy after only a month's pause.^[5] Despite the team not officially giving up on rotating captaincy, on season 2008-09 Koivu was pretty much the de facto captain of the Wild.

On October 16, Koivu tied a Wild franchise record for most assists in a game with four against the Florida Panthers. He also added a goal for a career-high five-point game as the Wild defeated Florida 6-2.^[6] In July of 2009, it was announced that Koivu would be on the cover of Finland's version of the video game, NHL 10. He was also voted the best Finn by NHL.com.

The Wild named Mikko Koivu the first permanent captain in franchise history on 20 October 2009. Previously, the Wild captaincy was rotated among the players on a monthly basis, each season.

[edit] International play

Medal record
Competitor for  Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
Bronze	2008	Halifax
Silver	2007	Moscow
Bronze	2006	Riga
Winter Olympics
Silver	2006	Turin
World Cup
Silver	2004	Canada
World Junior Championships
Silver	2001	Moscow
Silver	2002	Czech Republic
World Junior U18 Championships
Bronze	2001	Finland
Gold	2000	Switzerland

As a junior, Koivu competed in two World Junior U18 Championships, capturing gold in 2000 and bronze in 2001. Koivu did double duty in 2001, also participating in the World Junior Championships, earning a silver medal while contributing 3 assists. He played in his second World Juniors the following year in 2002, tallying 5 points in 6 games as Finland captured another silver medal. It also marked Koivu's fourth and final medal in junior international play.

Before making his North American début in the AHL, Koivu competed in the 2004 World Cup as Finland finished runner-up to Team Canada. Two years later, he appeared in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Koivu failed to register a point as Finland finished with a silver medal.

Beginning in 2006, Koivu appeared in three consecutive World Championships. He helped Finland to a bronze medal in 2006 with 4 points, then matched his output the following year with another 4 points in 2007 as Finland improved to a silver medal. In the 2008 World Championships, Koivu became a key contributor, tallying an international career-high 9 points in 9 games as Finland won the bronze medal.

Koivu holds the distinction of medaling in every international competition he has participated in with Finland.

[edit] Records

• Minnesota Wild franchise record for most assists in a game (tied) - 4 (October 16, 2008, against the Florida Panthers)
• First ever permanent captain for the Minnesota Wild (October 20, 2009)

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000–01	TPS	SM-l		21	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	TPS	SM-l		48	4	3	7	34		8	0	3	3	4
2002–03	TPS	SM-l		37	7	13	20	20		7	2	2	4	6
2003–04	TPS	SM-l		45	6	24	30	36		13	1	7	8	8
2004–05	Houston Aeros	AHL		67	20	28	48	47		5	1	0	1	2
2005–06	Minnesota Wild	NHL		64	6	15	21	40		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Minnesota Wild	NHL		82	20	34	54	58		5	1	0	1	4
2007–08	Minnesota Wild	NHL		57	11	31	42	42		6	4	1	5	4
2008–09	Minnesota Wild	NHL		79	20	47	67	66		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				282	57	127	184	206		11	5	1	6	8

[edit] Personal

On or off the ice, Koivu is known to be extremely competitive. His older brother, Saku Koivu was the longtime captain of the Montreal Canadiens, but now plays with the Anaheim Ducks. Their father is Jukka Koivu, the former head coach of TPS. Koivu's best friend is Tuomo Ruutu of the Carolina Hurricanes. He spends summers with his family and friends in Turku, Finland, his hometown.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Notable families in the NHL

[edit] External links

• Mikko Koivu at the Minnesota Wild Official website
• Mikko Koivu's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Marian Gaborik	Minnesota Wild first round draft pick 2001	Succeeded by Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Preceded by Nick Schultz	Minnesota Wild captains February 2008	Succeeded by Marian Gaborik
Preceded by Marian Gaborik	Minnesota Wild captains October and November 2008	Succeeded by Kim Johnsson
Preceded by Kim Johnsson	Minnesota Wild captains January 2009	Succeeded by Andrew Brunette
Preceded by Andrew Brunette	Minnesota Wild captains March and April 2009	Succeeded by Himself, full-time
Preceded by Rotating captaincy ended	Minnesota Wild captains 2009–present	Incumbent