Koivu vs. Koivu III

canadiens.com

Oct 30, 2008, 8:00 AM EDT

MONTREAL -- On Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, they will do it all over again. In the red corner, Saku—older brother. In the green corner, Mikko—kid brother, ready for revenge.

For the third time ever and the first time in almost two years, the Koivu brothers will go head-to-head in a regular season NHL showdown. Captains of their respective clubs, with Mikko wearing the “C” for the month of October, the two siblings have split their first two encounters in their ongoing quest for family supremacy.

The Emergence of Koivu

Think of the most versatile centers in the NHL, and certain names inevitably come to mind -- Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings, Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars and Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Somewhat unnoticed has been the emergence of Mikko Koivu as one of the premier two-way centers in the game. Ignored by many, the Minnesota Wild understand just how important the 25-year-old Koivu is to their team's success. So important, in fact, Minnesota made Koivu its team captain for October.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=389099

Fun Facts

• The Wild improved to 10-0-2 in their last 12 games dating back to last season.

• Minnesota has now not allowed a power-play goal in any of its seven games this season. The last team to not allow a power-play goal in its first seven (or more) games of a season was the 1962 Maple Leafs.

Koivu Brothers Make Headlines

To explain the early season success of the Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild, you don't have to go too far from the house of Jukka and Tuire Koivu in Turku, Finland.

Being the sons of hard-working parents -- a hockey coach and nurse -- Saku and Mikko clearly understood you have to work hard to achieve your dream. Now, both are leading their teams -- becoming the first brothers to be captains of their respective clubs since Brian (St. Louis) and Darryl Sutter (Chicago) from 1982 to '87.

Saku had goals in 3-straight games and 3 goals and 6 assists in 6 games to lead Montreal, while Mikko was leading Minnesota with 1 goal and 8 assists in 4 games.



http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=388186

More trade talk

Gabby is not liking his situation... especially with the media.

I Don't believe anything is an exaggeration for a second.

Gaborik has been a baby about contracts in the past and has always voiced his thoughts about going to the east.

Its About Time - concerning Gaborik

Its about time we started seeing stuff like this in the paper...

"It's believed Risebrough has had trade talks with Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey and Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi. Risebrough will attend Thursday's GM meetings in Chicago, so talks could heat up with a number of teams."

Pouliot