The big things I saw from Koivu last night that I didn't much of the year was him driving to the net and taking GREAT shots (seriously that snapper that hit the bar where Emery ducked looked like it would have killed him if it hit his head), giving and taking hits to make plays, and having better patience with the puck deep in the zone.
Now I'm not saying Koivu's a bad player when he's not "beast mode" Koivu. He's like a 65-70 point guy, great passer, nice shot. But when he turns it on he's a 90-100 point type player.
100% with you on this. different player last night than most of the season.
IMO Heatley was superior in every way for most of the season, but when Koivu plays like he did last night...It irritates me that he didn't do it more often.
edit: oops forgot which thread this was. if our "guy" or guys are likely to be gone we'll probably attempt to trade up. we'll fail if we don't pony up on of the other prospects we're so high on and maybe drop down to a middle round pick if we don't feel strongly about the contenders. some people are bemoaning the lack of a true superstar but one thing at a time, people. our biggest problem and real killer has been depth (including this year). couple more prospects that look like they could pan out beautifully and we'll have the pieces to make a move for an established superstar.
He obviously didn't want to be shut down...if he's healthy, which he obviously is...not sure how you force it when the team has no extra forwards to play instead. You're not going to healthy scratch Koivu.
I didn't really know where to put this news, but it's been reported that Koivu has said yes to the World Championships, I don't know if it's a good idea for his shoulder, but I can understand his will to play in the WC's because they are being held in Finland.
If I was Fletcher I would tell Koivu, regardless of where the WC is being held, he is done for the year after this season.
Someone needs to put their foot down with him and have a spine.
He is the epitome of this team; and I really, really don't want to keep doing this song and dance every freaking year.
His number 1 priority this summer is to be in the best shape for next year as he can be and that means he's getting shut down for conditioning. No playing in the WC or any other tournament.
Nobody in this franchise has the guts to tell Koivu no. But if he doesn't need surgery, who cares. I would tell him to get into camp in the best shape of his life because there are going to be players coming in looking for ice time and letters and he needs to set an example.
Nobody in this franchise has the guts to tell Koivu no. But if he doesn't need surgery, who cares. I would tell him to get into camp in the best shape of his life because there are going to be players coming in looking for ice time and letters and he needs to set an example.
And that's the problem. There is no one willing to stand up to Koivu.
I mean what is the use if you don't have any force to tell him that if he gets injured again, he pretty much tanks the team?
Nobody in this franchise has the guts to tell Koivu no. But if he doesn't need surgery, who cares. I would tell him to get into camp in the best shape of his life because there are going to be players coming in looking for ice time and letters and he needs to set an example.
So does this mean if I break out the "Wild are treating Koivu with kid gloves" conspiracy theory again it might hold some water with you people?
"No one has the guts to demand that a fully grown adult be treated like an insolent 12 year old child."
Get a grip people. He's an adult who can make adult choices for himself. Fletcher can't do anything more than recommend a course of action with regard to the WC, and if Koivu doesn't want to listen, Fletcher has to just live with that because there's a collective bargaining agreement that forbids him from doing anything else.
At the end of the season they will sit down with him, go over what happened this year, their expectations (mutually) going forward, and what he needs to do to meet those expectations.
Honestly though with the WC's in Finland and Mikko being the face of that country's hockey program if I were Fletcher I'd say go for it, but I would make it pretty clear that next year the team needs to be ready to go on Game One and he needs to be in top shape and healthy all year.
Honestly though with the WC's in Finland and Mikko being the face of that country's hockey program if I were Fletcher I'd say go for it, but I would make it pretty clear that next year the team needs to be ready to go on Game One and he needs to be in top shape and healthy all year.
And the question is; what if he isn't healthy next year? What if he blows out his shoulder again? We don't really have any stick to go along with the carrot.
If he's not healthy he's not in the lineup. That's enough of a stick. If he's not preparing himself in the offseason, take off the "C".
Something tells me with Mikko there's never been an issue with work and preparation. Just the opposite. He needs to pace himself and learn to back off a bit.
Last summer seems like he did way too much, WC's, Army, whatever it was he looked tired for much of the year. Once he was forced to rest to heal, he came back and looked rejuvenated.
The only downside is that two summers ago when he was injured and had surgery he came to camp looking tired and slow.
So I don't know what it is, but the Wild better figure it out, because he's too damn expensive to be a 70 point player.
If he's not healthy he's not in the lineup. That's enough of a stick. If he's not preparing himself in the offseason, take off the "C".
Something tells me with Mikko there's never been an issue with work and preparation. Just the opposite. He needs to pace himself and learn to back off a bit.
Last summer seems like he did way too much, WC's, Army, whatever it was he looked tired for much of the year. Once he was forced to rest to heal, he came back and looked rejuvenated.
The only downside is that two summers ago when he was injured and had surgery he came to camp looking tired and slow.
So I don't know what it is, but the Wild better figure it out, because he's too damn expensive to be a 70 point player.
Well, I remember this old article about Koivu becoming the face of Finnish hockey back in 08 I think, and there was talk about how he developed.
And the most talk about developing was about his physical developing, he had his growth spurt at 14 or 15 which gave him a lot of pain in the knees, after that was all done, his father Jukka Koivu had seen what had happened to Saku, who had just blown his knee during his sophomore season, and seen how it affected Saku's game and he got into a lot of injuries. They were saying that Saku worked too hard during the off-season in the middle of his rookie and sophomore season and forgot to heal up, which led to that.
So because of that, Jukka wanted to protect that from happening to Mikko, so he said that he should not train really hard before he himself (as in Jukka) thought it was the right time to do it. He even started to coach Mikko's junior team, and stopping his before that, rising in the ranks of Finnish coaches. I mean, he really, really wanted Mikko to go through the teen years with no injuries. Also the constant comparing to Saku made it worse for Mikko, who wanted to get out of the shadows, which meant working harder; but Jukka just kept on saying no. And that showed in the U16, U18 National Camps where Mikko would always have by far the worst test results of the groups, which made him want to work out even more. That all IMO comes down to his passion for the game and the fire inside him that pushes him to do more than he should.
When Jukka finally let Mikko to start doing some real work in the gym, it's been told that his friends had to stop Mikko from doing some exercises since he was trying way too hard. I have a feeling that it still is like that, he wants to work out real hard, and doesn't know where to stop.
As much as I liked the way Jukka wanted to create the best possible opportunity for Mikko to grow as a player, he should've let Mikko work out by himself earlier, so he would have understood to slow down when needed.
I think that both of the Koivu's injury problems have come from working out too hard and not letting their bodies heal during the off-season and breaks. Now Saku is older and it seems that he has understood to let it go a bit, but now it's the trouble what older players do get, groins etc.
I just hope for Mikko's sake that he learns that too before it's too late.
That makes sense. 2008-09 and 2009-10 were Mikko's best seasons IMO.
To his credit, if he can manage to not injure his knees any worse or ruin his conditioning, his game shouldn't deteriorate. He could be an 80-point player until 33-35 if he can stay healthy.
