Minnesota Wild to retire Mikko Koivu’s jersey
The Minnesota Wild are set to honor a legend.
The club announced Monday they would be raising Mikko Koivu’s number 9 to the rafters on March 13th.
“We are extremely excited to announce that Mikko Koivu will be the first player in team history to have his jersey retired,” said Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold. “Mikko did so many great things for our organization on the ice and in our community during his 15-year career here. He truly deserves this honor and I look forward to celebrating this historic moment with his family and all our passionate fans at Xcel Energy Center on March 13.”
Drafted by the Wild in the sixth round of the 2001 NHL Draft, he debuted with the Wild four years later and was named the first full-time team captain in team history on Oct. 20, 2009. Eventually, he led the franchise in many categories.
Upon his retirement in 2021, Koivu leads the Wild in: games played (1,028), assists (504), points (709), plus/minus rating (plus-70), shots on goal (2,270), power-play points (251), power-play assists (191), shorthanded points (25), shorthanded assists (15), multi-point games (153), face-offs won (10,354), face-offs taken (19,290), shootout attempts (107), shootout goals (42), game-deciding goals (18) and playoff games played (59).
On top of that, he ranks second in in team history in goals (205), power-play goals (60), shorthanded goals (10), penalty minutes (592), playoff points (28) and playoff assists (17), T-2nd in overtime goals (5) and third in game-winning goals (33).
“No one worked harder than Mikko during his time with the Minnesota Wild,” said Wild General Manger Bill Guerin. “He was a fiery competitor and a fantastic captain both on and off the ice. Mikko is the franchise leader in so many categories, but the impact he made in our community and the connections he made with Wild fans, will live on forever. We look forward to sharing this special honor with Mikko and all of our great fans on March 13.”
While Koivu will be the first Wild player to have his number retired, the organization has already retired No. 1 on behalf of the team’s fans.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.