Montreal Canadiens: The Top 5 Captains of All-Time
Saku Koivu
Saku Koivu was one of the quietest captains in Montreal and NHL history. He went about his way, leading on and off the ice, and showing leadership by simply playing the game of hockey. He led by example and proved why he is one of the better captains in Montreal’s history.
Koivu was also one of the smaller captains but made up for it using his speed and knowledge to break through the barriers.
Koivu was by no way elite in terms of production, but he was consistent. He scored 255 goals and 577 assists for 932 points in 1,124 games. In the playoffs, he scored 18 goals and 41 assists for 59 points in 80 games. He also appeared in his only NHL all-star game in 1998.
After playing for Montreal for most of his career, he, on July 8, 2009, signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks, where he would finish his career.
Brother of former NHLer Mikko Koivu, Saku was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer on September 6, 2001. The cancer was known as Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
He fought harder than he did on the ice and today he stands as a cancer survivor. On September 10, 2014, he retired from the game of hockey.
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Koivu was respected by not only his teammates but the opposition as well. He never took a shift off and always put in hard work to see the team be successful. There may be players who scored more, but there are few players who went through what he did and is still here to talk about it.