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Koivu to Anaheim


alexstream

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http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/277989.html

Koivu with the ducks.

I premerged my thread, although this is more a fact than a rumour. I'm saving some judgment less mods the job to merge a thread that shouldn't really be merged. I've also decided that it should be in every Koivu thread, just for the sake of being annoying with that mod, so that he gets my message straight.

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So the answer is NO...

I hope him and Teemu rekindle the magic. Best of luck, Saks! I'll miss ya.

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I figured the best fit for him would be Anaheim if not Montreal. It's only a 1-year deal though, so maybe he comes back to Montreal after a new Captain is ushered in next off-season. One can only hope...

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I figured the best fit for him would be Anaheim if not Montreal. It's only a 1-year deal though, so maybe he comes back to Montreal after a new Captain is ushered in next off-season. One can only hope...

I bet Teemu retires next Summer and Saku goes to the Wild

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Sad to see Saku go, and i year at 3.25M. Wow. Sure would look good in the red-white-and blue.

Easily could have fit him in getting rid of Metro 1M and some other junk.

Then sign Dandy for $1M and let him be the 21st player so the Habs could carry less on the active roster.

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Sad to see Saku go, and i year at 3.25M. Wow. Sure would look good in the red-white-and blue.

Easily could have fit him in getting rid of Metro 1M and some other junk.

Then sign Dandy for $1M and let him be the 21st player so the Habs could carry less on the active roster.

Metro is right handed. Saku is left handed.

It actually matters.

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I think if Bob wanted to fit Saks in, he would have. He did a major purge, and unfortunately Saku was a big part of that purge.

I'm going to miss the little warrior. 13 years is a lot of familiarity.

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I could see Koivu coming back into the fold next season if:

a) There's cap room

b) There's a roster spot for him

c) Another Captain has taken over and earned the respect of the locker room

d) He wants to come back

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  • 2 years later...

Surprised he got that much, but good on him. I'd love to have him back for a season in an 'elder statesman/sentimental favourite' role, like Trevor Linden did with Vancouver (or, more bathetically, Brisebois did here) - but I guess it ain't gonna happen. A shame that we'll never get to experience that closure with the only bright light from the darkest era in Habs' history. We still love ya, Saks!! :habslogo:

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Surprised he got that much, but good on him. I'd love to have him back for a season in an 'elder statesman/sentimental favourite' role, like Trevor Linden did with Vancouver (or, more bathetically, Brisebois did here) - but I guess it ain't gonna happen. A shame that we'll never get to experience that closure with the only bright light from the darkest era in Habs' history. We still love ya, Saks!! :habslogo:

He had the best +/- out of any Ducks forward and performed as expected. It sucks how he left since I had fond memories of him and he carried the team at a dark time but he was was a poor leader off the ice. The team was in constant leadership problems while he wore the C and the only time there wasn't was when Doug Gilmour was playing the captain role. I don't believe history will be very kind to Saku but the times it should he deserves it. He was never going to lead Montreal to the Cup but at least he lead them out of obscurity.

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There's no question that Koivu's teams had character issues. Look at the ridiculous number of problem cases that defined the Gainey Rebuild 1.0. But whether this was Koivu's fault, or made him a 'weak leader off the ice,' is really impossible to say. Teams always need a leadership core that goes well beyond any single player. Considering that the other big leader on Rebuild 1.0 was Kovalev (!) - a whiny head case par excellence - I'm not sure it's fair to draw ANY inferences about Koivu's leadership from the poor overall results. Anaheim's GM singled out his 'leadership on and off the ice' in justifying his pay raise.

My only real question about Koivu as a leader is that he appears to have clashed directly with, and thus contributed to driving out, both Ribeiro and Grabovski. Given how weak we've been at C over the past decade this certainly warrants a raised eyebrow.

Anyhow, he was a very fine player for us and a man of sterling character on the ice and off. I hope someday the Habs will find a way to honour him - not by retiring his jersey, but in some other way that befits his unique contribution to Habs' history.

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