image: TSN

I know some people are glad that he’ll get to play with Teemu Selanne.  Many Habs fans had hoped they would become teammates but not with the Ducks, of course.  They worked well together when they helped Finland capture the silver medal at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin so hopefully they can turn on the magic again before Selanne retires.  Even Koivu seemed happy with the news.  In a statement he said: “I’m very excited to join the Ducks this coming season.  I’m also looking forward to a full season with Teemu Selanne as a teammate.”

I know that he must be relieved to, at least, be going to a team where he feels he might be welcomed but at the same time, I’m slightly furious with this decision.  Okay, I’m irate.  Koivu knew that his days with the club might be numbered after they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs but there were a million factors that led to that.  Uh, let me think – their coach was fired and replaced by Bob Gainey, their goaltender Carey Price seemed to forget he was on the ice half the time, there was so much pressure to perform during their 100th anniversary and the players knew that the team was being sold.  That’s a lot of stress.  I’m not making excuses but I don’t think the solution was to completely dismantle the team.  Yes, they have a new coach and new owners and they’ve let star players like Alex Kovalev go but do you really think with all of those changes that it is the right time to take the team’s anchor, their captain, away?

When you do too much with a team (Tampa Bay Lightning and the Calgary Flames three seasons ago come to mind) it can lose its identity.  It’s not like Montreal failed to make the playoffs – they just didn’t advance.

I’m from Montreal and I know how much he is loved there.  I also know that he’s had to take a lot of flack from the media and some fans because he doesn’t speak French very well but that’s par for the course in La Belle Province.  When he was diagnosed with intra-abdominal non-Hodgkins lymphoma everyone was so stunned and worried but he pulled through and when he came back to the team, he was greeted by an incredible welcome.  My brother was the national anthem singer that year and I remember how energized the place was.  He got an eight-minute standing ovation.  He even earned a Masterton Trophy that season after showing extreme courage and dedication to his team.

Now, he’s going from being the captain to being on the roster.  He’s going from a city with a huge, overwhelming even, hockey market to a city where I was shocked last summer to discover that most people couldn’t care less about hockey.  I couldn’t find any merchandise at the three, count ‘em THREE, malls I went to and when I did make it to the Ducks store (there’s only one and it’s at the Honda Center) it was closed.  It was daytime!

At least the Ducks seem to know what they have.  General manager Bob Murray made the following statement:  “Saku Koivu’s character and leadership qualities are unquestioned.  He is a skilled playmaker and we are thrilled to add him to our team.”

In 13 NHL seasons, Koivu has dressed for 792 games and has scored 191 goals with 450 assists.  A foot injury limited him to playing only 65 games for the Habs in 2008-09 but he managed to score 16 goals and posted 36 assists.

Koivu is a class act and a well-respected player.  I hope he accomplishes great things over in Anaheim.

Post from: Hockey Beat

Koivu will become an unrestricted free agency (along with nine of his teammates) on July 1, 2009 but contract negotiations have not been initiated.  "If I’m not signed by July 1, I don’t think I’ll be back in Montreal," Koivu said. "Finishing your career with one team would be awesome in a way, but it’s too early to say because I don’t know what the team’s plan is. We lost yesterday, so I need time to sit down with my family and figure out what’s best for us."

"There’s a lot of question marks right now, so I have to get away from the game for a while before making a decision," said Koivu. "It would probably be a pretty interesting and exciting morning to wake up on July 1 and see what the offers are and which teams would be there."

I guess that means Koivu is also considering leaving the team.  I don’t blame him after that embarrassing playoff loss and the uncertainty of the team’s future.

Depending on what happens, the roster could look very different at the start of next season.  With the team possibly up for sale and a new coach on the horizon, the Habs could reinvent themselves but I’m hoping it won’t go the same way as the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Here’s a list of the players who will become free agents:

• Alex Kovalev
• Alex Tanguay
• Robert Lang
• Tom Kostopoulos
• Mike Komisarek
• Mathieu Schneider
• Francis Bouillon
• Patrice Brisebois
• Mathieu Dandenault

There are some big names on this list so I hope the Habs don’t wait too long to make a decision.  Lang, Tanguay and Schneider have all expressed a desire to return to Montreal and I think these players, along with Koivu, are completely worth signing.

image: TSN

Post from: Hockey Beat

In a surprising loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, the Montreal Canadiens suffered a far worse blow – their captain, Saku Koivu, suffered some kind of lower-body injury.  He first left the game early in the second period after tangling with Radek Smolenak but it seemed like everything was okay because he came back 10 minutes later.  Unfortunately, he never stepped on the ice in the third and today he’s going to have some tests to see how serious it is. 

I’m hoping everything turns out okay.  I always feel bad for a team that loses it’s captain.

image: TSN

Post from: Hockey Beat