Koivu

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes from Ottawa that Canadiens captain Saku Koivu had a few near misses in Ottawa on Saturday, some luckier than others. The first near miss resulted in Andrei Markov's goal when the puck took a Habs bounce right to the defenceman at the blue line for a one-timer.

There was disappoitment in the third period when Koivu came in on Senators goalie Martin Gerber, but was unable to beat the netminder with a backhand that went off the post.

And then there was the near fight with Patrick Eaves. Despite dropping the gloves, neither player received a fighting major and that kept Koivu's record unblemished. Throughout his NHL career, the Finnish player has never received a fighting major.

In today's Journal de Montréal, Canadiens captain Saku Koivu says he is pleased to see his name on the ballot for the 2008 NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta, but he isn't thinking that far ahead.

Instead, he is more concerned that his line isn't producing enough offence and Koivu believes he has yet to play his best hockey this season. While a trip to Georgia would be nice, Koivu said a lot will depend on how well the Canadiens are playing at that time.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey reports that there were plenty of questions being asked in the locker room last night about Michael Ryder's struggles this season, but Canadiens captain Saku Koivu was quick to defend his winger.

"Everybody has slumps and you notice them more when they come at the beginning of the season," Koivu said. "He's in the same spots he's always been and he's getting his chances, but he's having shots blocked or he's missing the net."

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that the Canadiens put in a 60-minute effort against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, dominating the game in every aspect. Unlike their poor effort against Atlanta on Tuesday, the Habs came out flying in this one and were able to hold the Flyers to less than 20 shots and didn't let up on the throttle throughout the game.

"They had less than 20 shots and the way we played with the lead in the third period is the way we have to do it," captain Saku Koivu said. "It's not so much me. I think the key tonight was the team's performance after our game against Atlanta."

Updated at 6:15 a.m. ET with Hickey column

In the eyes of some in Quebec, Saku Koivu is less than an ideal captain of the Canadiens unless he speaks French. It's a story that is in the news again, and Koivu was asked about it yesterday after morning practice.
First clip runs 3:38; second clip runs 1:02.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that the Canadiens embark on their first back-to-back series of the season tonight as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes before travelling to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins on Saturday night.

The Canadiens did not do well in this type of situation last season, going 10-20 in the 15 back-to-back situations they faced. They lost both ends of the back-to-back series five times and split the other 10 series.

Captain Saku Koivu says the key is to focus on the first game and try to conserve energy. "We have to be aware of keeping our shifts short and I'm sure the coaching staff is trying to play the four lines as much as possible," he said. "You have to keep the focus on the first game and then worry about the next."

The Gazette's Pat Hickey reports that one of Michael Ryder's main goals this season was to improve on the minus-25 rating he had last season despite scoring 30 goals.

"Last year, we had a couple of tough breaks but we knew that, as a line, that was one of the things we wanted to improve," Ryder said. His linemates, Christopher Higgins and Saku Koivu, didn't do much better in that department last season, with Higgins a minus-11 and Koivu a minus-21.

But so far this season, it has been a complete reversal for the trio, with Ryder at even, Higgins is a plus-2 and Koivu is a plus-3.

Read Hickey's full article here.

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu accepted the NHL's King Clancy Memorial Trophy before tonight's game in recognition of his leadership qualities on and off the ice, and the humanitarian work he does in his community.

Remember Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik nearly decapitating Canadiens captain Saku Koivu during an exhibition game this season? Orpik (photo below) doesn't. He missed Koivu, but splattered the nose of teammate Petr Sykora. Nor does Carolina Hurricanes star Erik Cole likely forget having his neck fractured in March 2006 when Orpik drove him headfirst into the boards. With a Penguins notebook for tonight's game.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey reports that the Canadiens' performance on the power play Wednesday night proved that the loss of Sheldon Souray's booming point shot might not be as detrimental as thought. Saku Koivu scored two power-play goals, including the overtime winner, as the Habs won their season opener 3-2 over the Carolina Hurricanes.

In all, the Habs were 3-for-8 with the man advantage and also killed off six of the seven Carolina power plays. Mark Streit scored the Canadiens' other goal in the first period with a one-timer from the point.

"We haven't had a lot of success in this building, so it's great to get off to a good start," said Koivu, referring to the fact the Canadiens had lost six of their seven games here before last night.

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu sat down with The Gazette's Red Fisher to clear the air over the recent controversy surrounding comments he made in La Presse last month. And Koivu insists he has not asked for a trade because of the firestorm surrounding the comments.

The paper reported that Koivu said the Habs should make the playoffs but wouldn't win the Stanley Cup. But Koivu insists that is not exactly what he said.

"We've had some ups and downs," Koivu said he told the La Presse reporter. "We lost some players and it's too bad. We didn't get any top-tier players, but we have a bunch of really good young guys who've improved a lot during the last two years and now it's their time. We're going to make the playoffs. I'm very confident we are. But on paper, we're not favourites to win the Stanley Cup."

Somewhere along the line, his words were lost in translation, Koivu insists.

In his Standing Pat column, The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that Canadiens captain Saku Koivu was the centre of attention at the team's golf tournament for the wrong reasons. Koivu spent some of the time clarifying comments he made this summer saying the Canadiens were good enough to make the playoffs, but couldn't be considered a Stanley Cup contender.

Koivu said he was merely offering the opinion that after failing to make a big splash on the free-agent market this summer, the Canadiens didn't look like a Stanley Cup favourite on paper. But he pointed to the example of the Buffalo Sabres, who have become contenders by developing young players and working together as a team.