It's frustrating for me because he just refuses to talk to Russo or be the face of the franchise. Guys like Iginla and Crosby are excellent captains. They show up to the media every day and answer every question and clearly their respect and work ethic permeates the room. Koivu is just surly and spouts a couple quotes and disappear.
The idea that your captain is out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury is ridiculous. Maybe it's a drug problem or something crazy and I'll look like the a-hole, but if it's an actual injury, come out and say it. There are 18,000 people willing to shell out dollars and see your product and support your team. Come out and say what's going on if you're the supposed face of the franchise and leader. The smoke and mirrors is so annoying.
I was a Koivu booster for years but I'm pretty sick of him. A handful of quality games since his new contract and a whole load of nothing else. Went from drastically overrated to overpaid and somewhat ineffective.
I don't think he'd scratch $5.5m if there were any star players on the Wild roster. I do think the team had to overpay to keep him because he was the only one of value (aside from Burns). I can't help but think that went to his head. The team desperately needs somewhat to draw the attention away from him because he's just not picking up the team and running.
It's frustrating for me because he just refuses to talk to Russo or be the face of the franchise. Guys like Iginla and Crosby are excellent captains. They show up to the media every day and answer every question and clearly their respect and work ethic permeates the room. Koivu is just surly and spouts a couple quotes and disappear.
The idea that your captain is out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury is ridiculous. Maybe it's a drug problem or something crazy and I'll look like the a-hole, but if it's an actual injury, come out and say it. There are 18,000 people willing to shell out dollars and see your product and support your team. Come out and say what's going on if you're the supposed face of the franchise and leader. The smoke and mirrors is so annoying.
I was a Koivu booster for years but I'm pretty sick of him. A handful of quality games since his new contract and a whole load of nothing else. Went from drastically overrated to overpaid and somewhat ineffective.
I don't think he'd scratch $5.5m if there were any star players on the Wild roster. I do think the team had to overpay to keep him because he was the only one of value (aside from Burns). I can't help but think that went to his head. The team desperately needs somewhat to draw the attention away from him because he's just not picking up the team and running.
But it may not even be his choice. It's not always the player giving the details. It can be the coach or the GM. Remember when there was a brief time (during Lemaire's last year or two) when they started to put a gag order on the details? It was either upper or lower body injury, and that's all the press was getting.
Only my opinion, but I'm wondering more and more if people are being told to stay quiet with the trade deadline fast approaching. Because with another top 6 guy out, we're gonna look desperate. And that means deals get more expensive. Koivu has met with the media to discuss his injuries just like every other player in the past. There's video proof of that on their site. So why is it different now? Something doesn't appear right. If it was personal reasons, they'd say so. They always do. They wouldn't lie about an injury. Russo would have picked that right up.
My God these posts tonight are making me look like a Koivu homer. But I'm really not. Just looking at things from a different perspective perhaps. And I get exhausted of the repeated discussions about the "C." Fair to say that no player on this team is deserving of it.
Maybe I'm the exception, but I'm so sick of Koivu I wouldn't be sad at all if he were traded. Strange that two years ago I was such a huge fan and now I just don't care for him at all.
Maybe I'm the exception, but I'm so sick of Koivu I wouldn't be sad at all if he were traded. Strange that two years ago I was such a huge fan and now I just don't care for him at all.
I think it's 50/50 with fans. He's Butch from 3 years ago. Shortie was the #1 target not necessarily because of his play, but because of his contract. Now it's Koivu's turn. The highest paid guys are going to get chewed apart...even more so when the season explodes like it has. He got a lot of money, and may not be worth that much to other teams. But to the Wild (considering our lack of talent at the time he signed), he was more valuable. Still is even though his season is turning to mush. I won't tear apart that contract until seeing if he rebounds from this year. Plus, I'm curious if Koivu and Granlund can become a one-two punch at center.
If I'm to be totally honest, I'm not happy with ANY player on that team right now. Well, maybe Heatley is starting to win me over a bit, but he had issues early on. But the top vets....Cullen, Brodz, Koivu, Seto, and so forth....I've turned in all of my fan cards on each of them a lot. Cullen has really p***ed me off in the past couple of months. But I still wouldn't trade most of the dingleberries. As much as they have sucked by failing to show up to games, most of the forwards have had to deal with covering the defense's butt PLUS they've had to play out of their usual positions on different lines every other day. Too much was asked of them.
Sorry if I seemed a bit harsh or jumped on ya there. Been a long day, and I was bit tired and "punchy." More calm now. How about we just agree to disagree?
Maybe I'm the exception, but I'm so sick of Koivu I wouldn't be sad at all if he were traded. Strange that two years ago I was such a huge fan and now I just don't care for him at all.
I think I am at this point as well. The team has shown in the past couple of weeks that it can win without Koivu. In fact I think most of our wins in the past few weeks have been with Koivu out of the lineup. Plus everyone here should already know my position on him.
I guess 60-70 was normal for Mario during his early career too.
Not trying to add fuel to the fire but in those 354 games that Mario did play he put up 302 goals and 436 assists. I don't think many people would be complaing about that. It's actually not even fair to compare the two.
Not trying to add fuel to the fire but in those 354 games that Mario did play he put up 302 goals and 436 assists. I don't think many people would be complaing about that. It's actually not even fair to compare the two.
Oh goodness no. I wasn't comparing the two in regards to skill. Yeah, Mario could do a lot more in a shorter amount of time. It was about judging a captain based on how many games they've played. Point was that playing 82 games a year is tough for any player. And Koivu hasn't missed significant time in the past few years.
My apologies I've been up for about 28 hours so my brain is running slower then normal. Which is'nt saying much for me. But yea I agree it is tuff for players to make it thru all 82 games.
So... everybody is hating on Koivu because he can't stay healthy?
I mean, I'm pissed too, but it's not like he wants to get injured. There's not much he can do.
We just need more talent on our roster so that we are not this dependent on one player.
The only player injury status has changed my opinion on is Latendresse...is he even worth qualifying seeing how few games he's played two years in a row?
I have no problem with Koivu...he's proven his worth every year and deserves the C.
It's frustrating for me because he just refuses to talk to Russo or be the face of the franchise. Guys like Iginla and Crosby are excellent captains. They show up to the media every day and answer every question and clearly their respect and work ethic permeates the room. Koivu is just surly and spouts a couple quotes and disappear.
I won't argue with you on the Crosby point, but you think Iginla's "work ethic permeates the room?" Are you high or something? The guy doesn't ever bother to show up for the first half of the season. His team puts in Columbus type effort. They beat around at the bottom of the standings for half the year then make a late push to fall just short of the playoffs. Yeah, that's really a fine example Iginla's setting. Doesn't every team wish they could follow the Calgary model?
Honestly, that comment is so incredibly bad, I can't even get past it to read the rest of your post.
Any talk about trading Koivu is so reactionary and short-sighted that, I'm sorry, it does not deserve serious discussion. Did we have to overpay? Yes. Has he underperformed? Yes, due to injury. Is his contract going to doom us for years to come? Of course not.
Koivu's a top line center de facto, not by talent.
Centers with more points than Koivu even strength this year:
Rank
Name
Team
Pos
GP
G
A
PTS
GPG
PPG
1
Steven Stamkos
TBL
C
58
34
18
52
0.59
0.90
2
Evgeni Malkin
PIT
C
52
24
24
48
0.46
0.92
3
Jason Spezza
OTT
C
61
18
26
44
0.30
0.72
4
Jonathan Toews
CHI
C
59
23
19
42
0.39
0.71
5
Henrik Sedin
VAN
C
59
6
36
42
0.10
0.71
6
John Tavares
NYI
C
59
18
21
39
0.31
0.66
7
Pavel Datsyuk
DET
C
59
12
26
38
0.20
0.64
8
Valtteri Filppula
DET
C
59
13
23
36
0.22
0.61
9
Joe Thornton
SJS
C
57
11
25
36
0.19
0.63
10
Vincent Lecavalier
TBL
C
58
16
19
35
0.28
0.60
11
Tyler Seguin
BOS
C
56
16
18
34
0.29
0.61
12
Patrice Bergeron
BOS
C
57
12
22
34
0.21
0.60
13
Patrik Elias
NJD
C
57
11
23
34
0.19
0.60
14
Olli Jokinen
CGY
C
59
12
21
33
0.20
0.56
15
Mikhail Grabovski
TOR
C
53
14
17
31
0.26
0.58
16
Eric Staal
CAR
C
60
12
18
30
0.20
0.50
17
David Krejci
BOS
C
54
11
19
30
0.20
0.56
18
Mike Ribeiro
DAL
C
52
10
20
30
0.19
0.58
19
David Desharnais
MTL
C
60
8
22
30
0.13
0.50
20
Jiri Hudler
DET
C
59
17
12
29
0.29
0.49
21
Logan Couture
SJS
C
57
16
13
29
0.28
0.51
22
Ryan O'Reilly
COL
C
59
11
18
29
0.19
0.49
23
Derek Stepan
NYR
C
57
10
19
29
0.18
0.51
24
Anze Kopitar
LAK
C
59
10
19
29
0.17
0.49
25
Kyle Wellwood
WPG
C
59
10
19
29
0.17
0.49
26
Stephen Weiss
FLA
C
56
8
20
28
0.14
0.50
27
David Backes
STL
C
59
10
17
27
0.17
0.46
28
Tuomo Ruutu
CAR
C
57
15
11
26
0.26
0.46
29
Adam Henrique
NJD
C
50
11
15
26
0.22
0.52
30
Sam Gagner
EDM
C
51
8
18
26
0.16
0.51
31
Artem Anisimov
NYR
C
56
8
18
26
0.14
0.46
32
Rich Peverley
BOS
C
49
8
18
26
0.16
0.53
33
Brad Richards
NYR
C
57
15
10
25
0.26
0.44
34
Maxime Talbot
PHI
C
58
14
11
25
0.24
0.43
35
Mike Fisher
NSH
C
50
13
12
25
0.26
0.50
36
Derek Roy
BUF
C
57
10
15
25
0.18
0.44
37
Saku Koivu
ANA
C
51
10
15
25
0.20
0.49
38
Marcus Johansson
WSH
C
57
10
15
25
0.18
0.44
39
Tomas Plekanec
MTL
C
60
7
18
25
0.12
0.42
40
Ryan Kesler
VAN
C
54
11
13
24
0.20
0.44
41
Chris Kelly
BOS
C
57
11
13
24
0.19
0.42
42
Nicklas Backstrom
WSH
C
38
10
14
24
0.26
0.63
43
Tyler Bozak
TOR
C
50
9
15
24
0.18
0.48
44
Ryan Getzlaf
ANA
C
59
4
20
24
0.07
0.41
45
Jiri Tlusty
CAR
C
60
13
10
23
0.22
0.38
46
Jeff Skinner
CAR
C
44
13
10
23
0.30
0.52
47
Patrik Berglund
STL
C
59
12
11
23
0.20
0.39
48
Matt Cullen
MIN
C
58
9
14
23
0.16
0.40
49
Kyle Brodziak
MIN
C
59
11
11
22
0.19
0.37
50
Cody Hodgson
VAN
C
59
10
12
22
0.17
0.37
51
Paul Stastny
COL
C
57
9
13
22
0.16
0.39
52
Brooks Laich
WSH
C
59
7
15
22
0.12
0.37
53
Tim Connolly
TOR
C
47
6
15
21
0.13
0.45
54
Brandon Dubinsky
NYR
C
54
5
16
21
0.09
0.39
55
Mike Cammalleri
MTL, CGY
C
52
11
9
20
0.21
0.38
56
Alexander Burmistrov
WPG
C
55
10
10
20
0.18
0.36
57
Andrew Cogliano
ANA
C
59
9
11
20
0.15
0.34
58
Shawn Matthias
FLA
C
57
9
11
20
0.16
0.35
59
David Legwand
NSH
C
55
9
11
20
0.16
0.36
60
Mikko Koivu
MIN
C
45
8
12
20
0.18
0.44
60th right now in the NHL. That's also behind Cullen and Brodziak.
Bringing this out of the Granlund thread.
As the good Doctor noted, if you sort by PPG (to resolve the fact he's only played 45 games) Koivu slots in in the late 30s (37 I think, but I might have miscounted).
That's also considering your list of "top centers" included such "centers" as Jeff Skinner (has played almost exclusively at wing this season) and Mike Cammalleri (played a grand total of 0 games at center prior to being traded). Those were the two I could note offhand by glancing through the list. I suspect there's several more hiding if I looked deeper.
How about we just agree to disagree? 
