The Finnish center was well loved throughout the league and is the older brother to current Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu. Saku would spend 14 seasons with Montreal, 10 of which he served as their captain, and is the only European captain in Montreal team history. His 10 seasons as captain are also tied for the longest tenure as a captain in team history with the famed Jean Beliveau.
Although he never won a Stanley Cup, Koivu has four Olympic medals, four world championship medals, including a gold in 1995, and a silver in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Koivu will go down as one of the top Finnish players to ever play in the NHL and his tough, injury battled, and cancer battled career will be one fans can talk about for years to come.
