Saku Koivu

The King of Hockey · Newbie

Saku Koivu

barry33 · Guru

The King of Hockey wrote:

Saku is a natural leader and is all heart. He does show up for every game. The difference between Team Finland and the Habs is his surrounding cast. The Finns were definitely not the most talented team in the Olympics but they all played their hearts out. Just once I'd like to see some of the same enthusiasm from the rest of the Habs players. There are too many freeloaders on this team, especially Ribeiro, Zednik and Souray. At least Saku knew that he could count of his Finnish teamates. Secondly, Saku has always been dominant on the larger Olympic ice surface. He's a great skater and playmaker. Unfortunately, because of the greed of the owners, we'll never see a larger ice surface in the NHL. Too bad, because the larger surface does separate the true hockey players from the pretenders. Those of you who are criticizing Saku (although I respect your opinion) have missed the point. There is no second centre on the Habs to take the heat off him. I wonder how many of you want to bury yet another Habs captain? Go Saku! May your efforts be rewarded with some loyalty and more consistent effort from your teamates.

And you are missing MY point. The larger ice surface and a second center has absolutely ZERO to do with extra effort. What I saw the last 2 weeks is the Koivu we need in Montreal. Going hard to the net. Digging in the corners on a consistent basis. It has nothing to do with taking dumb and lazy hooking penalties. I have said all along that Montreal needs a number one center to take the heat off of Koivu and I stand by that.

Do I want to bury another habs captain? I don't think we are burying anyone. He just signed a 3 year contract with no trade clause. We have buried 8 head coaches. And if Carbo cannot get the job done next year he will be the 9th.

It is obvious that some feel the problem i sthat Saks does not have the proper linemates. Kovalev is not the one apparently. So let's play GM. Koivu is here to stay. Kovalev is here to stay. What do we do now to make these guys happy? Maybe John has a goo dpoint..Selanne for Zednick, but since Selanne has stated publicly several times he does not want to play in Canada, I do not see that happening. Besides, the Selanne/Karya experiment in Colorado did not work. If as many say, the reason that Saks performed better is because of the larger ice surface, what good would bringing Selanne to Montreal do?

So lets Play GM. Keep in mind., people have not been pounding down Gainey;s door inquiring about the likes of Ribiero or Zednick (or they would already be elsewhere). We have limited cap space evn with Theo out all of 4 weeks.

Muller93 · Guru

barry33 wrote:

And you are missing MY point. The larger ice surface and a second center has absolutely ZERO to do with extra effort. What I saw the last 2 weeks is the Koivu we need in Montreal. Going hard to the net. Digging in the corners on a consistent basis. It has nothing to do with taking dumb and lazy hooking penalties. I have said all along that Montreal needs a number one center to take the heat off of Koivu and I stand by that. Do I want to bury another habs captain? I don't think we are burying anyone. He just signed a 3 year contract with no trade clause. We have buried 8 head coaches. And if Carbo cannot get the job done next year he will be the 9th. It is obvious that some feel the problem i sthat Saks does not have the proper linemates. Kovalev is not the one apparently. So let's play GM. Koivu is here to stay. Kovalev is here to stay. What do we do now to make these guys happy? Maybe John has a goo dpoint..Selanne for Zednick, but since Selanne has stated publicly several times he does not want to play in Canada, I do not see that happening. Besides, the Selanne/Karya experiment in Colorado did not work. If as many say, the reason that Saks performed better is because of the larger ice surface, what good would bringing Selanne to Montreal do? So lets Play GM. Keep in mind., people have not been pounding down Gainey;s door inquiring about the likes of Ribiero or Zednick (or they would already be elsewhere). We have limited cap space evn with Theo out all of 4 weeks.

Hey Barry. I'm going to let you answer this question from a coach prespective. I can't understand how someone with your credentials is missing this point:

Have you ever coached a team of 20 guys in which you only have three actual scoring threats? (A team with some solid defensive guys and grinders but not much more than 3 offensive guys).

You know, a team that just can't generate any momentum? You keep going on about how Koivu and Kovalev don't give solid efforts every night...but have you ever coached a team in which your leading guys just can't get rolling due to some pretty sad back up offensive players?

Well from a players perspective, I can tell you that when you lack momentum...you just feel lost out there...your giving the effort but the other team is carrying the game on you...thus less opportunities to "go to the net" and "dig in the corners". Really barry, you must know this is HUGELY a team game...HUGE.

Very very few players can swing the momentum all on their own( ohhh Lemieux...Grtetzky....Orr..and maybe Crosby to some extent). Koivu is not that type of player...never has been... never will be. But he is a great player...really great. What do you expect from him?

I hope the post does not come off as inflammatory...I just want to know why you seem to think Koivu lacks effort from night to night. ( I'll give you Kovalev...he has a history of that...but I think it's less blatent than you would make it seem).

Nil d · Guru

Muller93 wrote:

...I just want to know why you seem to think Koivu lacks effort from night to night. ( I'll give you Kovalev...he has a history of that...but I think it's less blatent than you would make it seem).

That sounds like something Henny Youngman would have said!

"Let's talk about inconsistency. Take Alexei Kovalev.................please!"