Mikko Koivu unexpectedly retires…

 

Yesterday brought the news that Mikko Koivu decided to hang up the skates and call it a career after 16 seasons in the NHL. He spent almost all of his career with the Minnesota Wild and had spent part of this current season with Columbus.

 Am I surprised he retired yesterday? I actually thought he would have retired after Wild GM announced he was moving on from the first full-time captain in Wild history (the link to my article about Koivu's time being done here with the Wild is here.) He surprised a lot of people by signing a one year deal to play in Columbus. At the same time, I’m not surprised he retired after giving it the old “college try” to play at least one more season. He’s not getting any younger (he turns 38 in March) and he’s also two years off of a knee injury in which he needed surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus--which I think he appeared to be slower on the ice after coming back. 

So, Koivu’s decision to retire yesterday came completely out of the blue and the announcement came on an off day for the Blue Jackets. Andrew Steele-Davis of Fansided stated this about Koivu’s decision to retire:

 “It was a huge shock to many in the National Hockey League and the decision appeared to completely come out of the blue, with Koivu stating that he wasn’t happy with his level of play this season and, as a result, decided that it would be in the best interests of all concerned to hang up the skates…He played the game of hockey the right way, he never took a shift off, he was a fierce competitor in all three zones, he was a model professional, a perfect role model for his younger peers and there is no doubt that, when all is said and done, Mikko Koivu’s famous No. 9 jersey will be the first jersey to be hung from the rafters at the Xcel Energy Center.”

Aaron Portzline (who covers the Blue Jackets for The Athletic) stated that Koivu had spent the last couple of weeks becoming frustrated with his own play and after watching Monday’s Blue Jackets’ win over Carolina as a healthy scratch, he realized it was time to retire.

After 1,035 career games (all but 7 of them in a Minnesota Wild Sweater), Koivu hangs the skates up...and he left it all out on the ice. 

From the NHL on Mikko Koivu's retirement (@nhl on twitter)

Sources:

Andrew Steele-Davis https://puckprose.com/2021/02/09/columbus-blue-jackets-mikko-koivu-walks-off-sunset/?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email

Aaron Portzline https://theathletic.com/2378453/2021/02/09/mikko-koivu-blue-jackets-retirement-wild/?source=dailyemail

 

 

 

 

Is Mikko Koivu’s career finished in Minnesota?

 **Update** 

After I posted the original article, the Wild are expected to move on from Mikko Koivu. According to an article by The Athletic's Michael Russo (link to here), Koivu was informed during his end of the season exit meeting with GM Bill Guerin. Russo stated Koivu has been informing those closest to him that his playing days with the Wild are over. 

With the 2019-2020 season over for the Minnesota Wild after they didn’t make it past the round-robin play in and into the Stanley Cup playoffs, there are questions about the roster and what moves is General Manager Bill Guerin going to make in the off season. 

One of the big questions this off-season is whether or not Mikko Koivu’s career as a member of the Wild is over. Koivu turned 37 back on March 12.

Koivu’s career with the Wild started in the 2005-06 season. He was drafted in the first round by the team in 2001 (sixth overall). After fifteen seasons, Koivu is the team leader in the following categories (information courtesy of wild.com):

• NHL games played (1,028--all played with the Minnesota Wild)
• Points (729)
• Assists (704)
• Plus/Minus (+70)
• Shots (2,270)

Koivu is second all time in goals scored (205) and power play goals (60). He is the only permanent captain in team history (he was named captain on October 20, 2009).He is also the first in franchise history to have played 1000 career NHL games and with the same team.

Now, with the 2019-2020 season over, Koivu’s contract with the Wild has now ended. He is basically a free agent (even though free agency won’t begin until October 9). Whether or not Koivu returns for another season in a Wild sweater also depends on what Wild GM Bill Guerin is able to with free agency (this will be Guerin’s first full offseason as GM). 

If Koivu re-signs with the team, what would his role be? According to Michael Russo from The Athletic, Koivu would more than likely playing center on the fourth line with probably no power play time. It was a role that he transitioned to during the second half of the season and remained in during the playoffs.

Depending on free-agency at this point, what are the possibilities for Koivu? The first possibility is that Koivu re-signs with the Wild in a short term deal that is team-friendly so that he could retire as a member of the Wild. He didn’t waive his no-trade clause at the trade deadline so he could remain with the team. The other possibility is that he may have some options if he decides to pursue free agency or sign with his hometown team TPS Turku in the Finnish Elite League.

What the future brings for Mikko Koivu remains to be seen. Koivu still needs to meet with Guerin and he does need some time to think about his future. 

Sources:

Michael Russo, The Athletic (8/9/2020) https://theathletic.com/1984520/2020/08/09/mikko-koivu-wild-retirement-was-that-it-captain/

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2020/3/16/21180704/minnesota-wild-mikko-koivu-retirement-new-contract-speculation-covid-19-coronavirus

Michael Russo, The Athletic (9/9/2020) https://theathletic.com/2052864/2020/09/09/wild-offseason-update-mikko-koivu-contract-future-trade-buyout-options/

The Minnesota Wild eliminate the Saint Louis Blues in round 1…now on to the next round against the Chicago Blackhawks

The Minnesota Wild did something at home for the first time in their 14-year history—they clinched a playoff series on home ice. They sent the Central Division Champions St. Louis Blues out of the playoffs in game six with a 4-1 win.

It was the first time in over 20 years that a Minnesota NHL team won a playoff series on home ice. The last time it happened was in 1991 when, ironically, the Minnesota North Stars eliminated the Blues.

Just three months ago, the Wild were in 12^th place in the Western Conference. Devan Dubnyk was acquired by the Wild and we all know what has happened since.

It is also the second consecutive season the Minnesota Wild has eliminated the Central Division Champions in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Last year, the Wild knocked out the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.

According to NHL.com writer Dan Myers (from his column Five Reasons Wild advanced to the second round), one of the top five reasons the Wild beat the Blues was how the Wild were winning on the road.

Myers wrote:

Dubnyk blocking a shot from the Blues' Paul Stasny
(courtesy of twincities.com)

“Over the final few weeks of the regular season, no team was better than the Wild at winning away from home. Minnesota tied an NHL record with 12 consecutive road victories from mid-February until the regular season finale in St. Louis, a game where several regulars from each team sat out...That trend continued into the postseason.” 

The Wild also had not lost back-to-back games and that continued into the playoffs, especially after losing game 4 by the score of 6-1. Dubnyk and the Wild responded by winning games 5 and 6, both by scores of 4-1. 

Devan Dubnyk stated to the press:

"I was thinking about it over the last couple of days...It just feels right. It feels right for our group to be where we are and to continue to move forward. That's why it's easy to go out and play and feel like we're going to win because we've done it all year. Hopefully we can continue doing that." 

It's been quite a roller coaster year for Devan Dubnyk, considering last year he was a "playoff extra" for Montreal. Now, he has been named as a finalist for the Vezina trophy last Friday and yesterday was named a finalist for the Masterton award. 

(All I am going to say is that Chuck Fletcher better sign Dubnyk to a new contract!!) 

Myers included in another article about the Minnesota-St. Louis series that:

“While the Blues have been beasts in the regular season the past four seasons, they’ve gone cold in the playoffs. And all four early exits came in series where the Blues had home ice advantage…While the Blues have dominated in the regular season, they have failed to reach anything close to that level in the postseason.” 

For the Wild, it also helped greatly that they were able to actually score on the power play during this series. Matt Dumba scored a power play goal in game 1 to give the Wild a two goal lead, while Jason Pominville scored a power play goal that happened to be an empty-netter to secure Minnesota's 4-2 win. Mikko Koivu scored a goal late in the second period on the power play to give the Wild a two-goal lead going into the third period of game 5. (We ALL know how horrible the power play was for the Wild during the regular season).  

Now, for the second straight year, the Wild will open round two against the Blackhawks in Chicago. It's going to be quite a series, and this isn't the same Wild team the Blackhawks have run into in the playoffs before....

Hopefully, this is the year the Wild beat the Blackhawks in the playoffs. 

To read Dan Myers' article Five reasons Wild advanced to the second round, link is here.

What is up with the refs not calling goaltender interference in Saturday night’s game against Colorado and allowing that goal to count?

What is goaltender interference?  Goaltender interference is a penalty that is called where a player is found in the goal crease when the opposing goaltender is establishing his position in the same area.

According to the NHL rulebook, rule #69 states “this will result in a minor penalty to the offending player. If a goal is scored as a result of a player obstructing the goaltender, the goal will be disallowed and a minor penalty assessed at the referee's discretion. In leagues where goaltender interference isn't an official penalty, a charging penalty is called instead.”

I’m bringing this up because at the 1:32 mark of the second period of Saturday night’s game, there was a very questionable play which lead to a goal for the Colorado Avalanche (and stopping the Wild’s shutout streak against them this season).

The following is from the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo (link to article here):

“Twelve periods and 240 minutes of hockey now this season, and the only goal the Avalanche has scored against the Wild in four losses (outscored 12-1) arguably should have been wiped out by referees Chris Rooney and Dean Morton tonight.

Just 1:32 into the second period, a Maxime Talbot dump-in ricocheted awkwardly off the glass, into the crease and pinned under Devan Dubnyk’s right pad. Cody McLeod came charging in trying to jam at the puck and pushed Dubnyk over the goal line.

The ref blew the play down signaling no goal. But they went to review, and the NHL Situation Room correctly determined the puck lodged under Dubnyk’s pad when it went over the line. Tying goal.

However, Dubnyk’s pad only went over the line because McLeod pushed him over the line. Before it got to video review, Rooney and Morton probably should have disallowed the goal. That part of this was not reviewable.”

I did watch the game on Saturday night and from the replay video that was shown on TV (on FSN North), Cody McLeod CLEARLY pushed Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk back into the net with the puck lodged under his right pad (the puck couldn't be seen in the video replay that was shown). Goaltender interference SHOULD have been called on McLeod according to the rule I have stated at the beginning of this article and the goal should NOT have been allowed and should not have been reviewed by Toronto to allow for that bogus call to stand. 

Devan Dubnyk gave this statement in a post-game interview:

“The ruling, I guess, was that McLeod had nothing to do with me going into the net, which is somewhat mindboggling…It didn’t seem to matter in the end. For us to respond like that after a goal that probably shouldn’t have counted, that’s a sign of a great hockey team.”

This is one example of plenty regarding crappy and shoddy officiating on the part of the NHL refs. There were plenty of examples from just this game that could be used, but this could end up being one lengthy article. 

In addition to the mess that was the one "allowed" goal by the Avalanche, the NHL announced McLeod and Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog were both fined by the league for their antics in the last seconds of the game. McLeod was fined $3,091.40 for entering the game with less than 10 seconds for purposely starting an altercation. Right after the face-off (with about 8 seconds left on the clock), McLeod body-checked Wild forward Mikael Granlund, then engaged in a fight with Wild forward Charlie Coyle. McLeod received a 2 minute minor (for unsportsmanlike conduct), a 5 minute major for fighting, and a 10-minute game misconduct penalty. McLeod should have also been given an instigator penalty (which would have resulted in Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy a significant fine and a possible suspension). 

Gabriel Landeskog was fined $5,000 for reaching around a partition separating both the visitors' bench and the Avalanche's bench and punching Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu (while both players were on their respective benches) with about three seconds left in the game. Landeskog was issued a misconduct penalty. 

Both fines are the max fines allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement. However, these fines now put McLeod and Landeskog on the NHL's radar because of their conduct. It is unknown if Patrick Roy was fined at all as a result of this. If he wasn't, he should have been since he basically allowed the McLeod incident to happen in the first place. (According to Michael Russo in another article, Roy was expected to be fined by the league).

The season series finale between these two teams is this Sunday night (March 8) at the Xcel Energy Center. 

Devan Dubnyk was named the NHL's First Star of the Month on Sunday (March 1). He is the first Minnesota Wild player to be named First Star of the Month (the only other Wild player to have been named to the NHL's Three Stars of the Month was Josh Harding back in November 2013). Dubnyk also made is 21st consecutive start for the Minnesota Wild last night against Ottawa in their 3-2 shootout win, which is a franchise record.