Come back with me, if you can, to the moments before the first of the last three regular-season games of the 2001-02 season. The noise had erupted even before the first of the Canadiens had stepped onto the ice and grew and grew as one player followed another. Now there was no longer a noise in what was then the Molson Centre, but wave upon wave of thunder engulfing it.

"Saku! Saku! Saku!"

He stood there at the Canadiens blue line, along with the rest of the starting lineup. Then, with the noise washing around him, Koivu skated to Jose Theodore, hugged him and said:

"C'mon, let's do it."

Koivu returned to the blue line, and it was only then that he removed his helmet, the lights glinting off his short, golden spikes of hair - and all the while, the screaming thousands stood there welcoming back one of their own, seven months after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma ... after eight cycles of chemotherapy that left him more sick than he could ever imagine.

"Saku! Saku! Saku!

He raised his stick, waving it as if it were a wand signalling the magic of the moment, and who can say it wasn't on this night only moments away from the Canadiens' 80th game of the season? And then ... another soaring moment: the five Ottawa Senators starters at their blue line skated to their bench, leaving Koivu alone.

"Saku! Saku! Saku!"

Magic.

That was then and this is now. What, I wonder, was Saku thinking about yesterday after Finland's 3-2 loss to Sweden? Was he thinking about lining up against Mats Sundin for the third-period faceoff with the teams locked up, 2-2 ... of breaking his stick, racing to his bench for another and hearing the roar of the crowd on the Nicklas Lidstrom goal 10 seconds into the period?

What was he thinking of much later, the silver medal - rather than the gold he desperately wanted - sitting on his chest, unable to erase the terrible disappointment, the grief, the empty feeling of coming so close to the top of the mountain and yet ending so far away? Silver never is enough for someone seeking gold, not for a gladiator who was voted to the all-star team, who was surely Finland's most valuable player and leader at Turin and, perhaps, the tournament's MVP - a prize which went to Finnish goaltender Antero Nittymaki.

It's unlikely, but was he thinking about what lies ahead when he rejoins the Canadiens tomorrow for the start of a six-game road trip?

Here's the point; Captain K has metioned to me several times that Alex Kovalev is the best player on this team. He gets no argument from me, but I say that while the Canadiens need Kovalev at his best, they will go only as far as Koivu takes them in this stretch drive to the playoffs. How much, though, does he have left in the tank after this horrible Olympics schedule, which had Koivu playing eight games in 12 days?

After hardly no time at all between the start of the Olympic break and the incredible pressure of Games competition, after the disappointment of yesterday's result in which the Finns came within a hair of tying the game in the final seconds, after yet another jet-lagged trip from Turin to Long Island today, what's left?

Tomorrow's game won't be a problem for Koivu if only because he'll be running on the excitement of at least being part of a gold-medal game. Furthermore, Bob Gainey is smart enough to understand he can't saddle his team leader with too many minutes against the Islanders, even though the games remaining in the Canadiens' regular-season schedule mean more than the silver medal Koivu brought back. Lots more.

The danger is in the games following this one, when even though Koivu's spirit is willing, his body may not be - for at least a little while. You don't go through a gruelling schedule like his without paying some kind of a price down the line.

The Olympics are unique. They are special, but the remaining games awaiting the Canadiens are more important - and the reality is that they're going into them with a lot of questions that need answers.

Can the goaltending hold up?

Will the Canadiens be able to get the best from their best players, Koivu and Kovalev?

When do Mike Ribeiro, who hasn't scored a goal in his last 13 games, and Richard Zednik, who has only one in his last 18 games, report to the team bus?

Can the Canadiens, as a team, turn around a terrible road record which stands at 10-19?

Tune in later.