Saku Koivu is a Duck!

There is absolutely no question in my mind that heading into this upcoming season that the Montreal Canadiens will miss the solid leadership that was provided year after year by their former captain and fan favorite Saku Koivu.

This humble 14- year veteran who has played every shift of his career with Montreal signed one- year contract last Wednesday worth 3.25 million dollars with the Anaheim Ducks. Even though I heard the news through the media that Canadiens GM Bob Gainey wasn’t going to sign the soon to be 35 year-old, it was still a bit of a shock when it became official that he signed with another organization.

Koivu, who has captained the storied franchise for the past ten straight seasons will be best remembered for serving as a real inspiration in the 2001/02 season when he battled and beat non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and stunned his doctors by returning to the Montreal ice only seven months after being diagnosed in September. In his career with Montreal Koivu showed quite a bit of offensive skill shown by his 191 career goals and 450 assists. Consistency has also been his strong mark over the years as he has now scored 50 or more points in six straight seasons.

His strength is his playmaking abilities as he has accomplished registering 40 or more assists in five of the last six seasons. Since the free agent market officially opened for business on July 1 there was all sorts of speculation that Koivu who had 50 points last season would sign with the Minnesota Wild to play with his younger brother Mikko.

Some rumors also had him going to the New York Rangers but at the end of the day he decided on the Ducks and both sides couldn’t be happier. “For us it’s been an exciting day, an exciting couple of days,” Koivu said. “After spending 14 years in Montreal and not experiencing anything else in the NHL, it’s the first time for me to become a free agent.” “When that happens, there’s a lot of question marks and you don’t know for sure what’s going to happen and where you’re going to end up. Now that today we’ve signed with Anaheim, I can tell you, and my family and I are extremely happy, we’re extremely excited about the new challenge and it was up to me I’d like to start the season next week.” Anaheim GM Bob Murray was just as thrilled about the signing. “Saku Koivu’s character and leadership qualities are unquestioned,” Murray said. “He is a skilled playmaker and we are thrilled to add him to our team.” Things won’t seem right watching Koivu flying around the ice without the customary Montreal Canadiens uniform rippling in the breeze.