Number retirement a fitting and long-awaited final honor for Koivu

ST. PAUL --What began as one of the best-kept secrets in Wild history will conclude with an obvious honor for arguably the greatest player to ever wear the club's sweater later this season.
When Minnesota selected Mikko Koivu with the sixth overall selection in the 2001 NHL Draft, it could have only dreamed that one day, his sweater would hang in the Xcel Energy Center rafters.
On March 13, that dream will become a reality, as Koivu will be the first player in franchise history to have his number retired before the team's game that day against the Nashville Predators.

"Obviously it means a lot. A big honor and I think now [Monday] when they announced it, you started to think back on all the years and the people and the fans," Koivu said on Tuesday. "So it means a lot. I'm proud of it.
"I'm proud to be part of the Wild, always have been."
Perhaps no players is more synonymous with the team in franchise history that Koivu, the elite two-way centerman with a steely glare that earned himself the nickname "Captain Serious."
Koivu, the first full-time captain in Wild history and among the franchise's leader in most categories, became the first player to skate in his first 1,000 games with the club, becoming just the 55th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat, when he hopped over the boards for the first time against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 1, 2019.
Fittingly, Koivu would be the shootout hero in that game, scoring the deciding goal with his now-famous locally forehand-backhand maneuver.
It was the signature moment for Koivu in his final season with the club, one that didn't come close to closing with a proper send off.
Three months after that game, the NHL shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Koivu would play his final games in a Wild sweater in front of no fans in the Edmonton bubble, then move on to Columbus for a brief seven-game run with the Blue Jackets last season, before hanging up the skates for good.
And while the date in March will be an opportunity for fans and an organization to salute Koivu, he said it will be a much-awaited chance for him to say thank you in return for all the years he's spent - and continues to spend - in the State of Hockey.

"It's one more chance to say thank you to the fans and also to the people that helped me a lot throughout my career here in Minnesota," Koivu said. "I didn't get a chance to ... [have a final game and goodbye] with the fans and players and management and staff. That will be fun."
Koivu's legacy in Minnesota began under a shroud of secrecy.
The Wild held the sixth pick in the 2001 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Florida, and from the get-go, the team had its sights on Koivu, a strong, two-way centerman from Finland who it wanted to make a franchise cornerstone.
The only problem was that it picked sixth, and there was no guarantee that Koivu would be available.
While the top two picks in the draft were pretty well decided, the Wild would have to sweat out the Tampa Bay Lightning, picking third, the hometown Florida Panthers at four and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim selecting fifth.
There was also the Montreal Canadiens, picking seventh, who made no bones about their desire to reunite Mikko with older brother Saku, who had been named the Canadiens' 27th captain in franchise history just two years prior.
So Minnesota commenced perhaps the best smokescreen in franchise history.
The top of the draft went as expected, with Ilya Kovalchuk and Jason Spezza going first and second overall. Centermen Alex Svitov and Stephen Weiss went third and fourth, respectively.
Which left the Ducks and a trade up by the Canadiens.

The Wild's draft table was right next to that of the Canadiens, and the team's draft table was filled with plenty of former Habs, including then-Executive Vice President Doug Risebrough and head coach Jacques Lemaire.
The group did what it could to disguise its interest in Koivu, talking up defenseman Mike Komisarek as well as goaltenders Pascal Leclaire and Dan Blackburn.
Koivu was the guy they were targeting all along, however. And the smokescreen worked.
Anaheim selected Stanislav Chistov with the fifth pick, leaving Koivu for the Wild, who wasted no time getting to the stage and submitting the selection.
And among Wild players all-time, Koivu ranks first in games played (1,028), assists (504), points (709), plus/minus (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), faceoffs won (10,354) and faceoffs taken (19,290).
He's tied for second in overtime goals (five).
He's second in goals (205), power-play goals (60), shorthanded goals (10) and penalty minutes (592).
He's third in game-winning goals (33).
"I'm so excited for him," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "Not only a class player, but a class person. What he did for this organization, how he played the game from an insider watching him in practice and in games, his intensity level, his leadership qualities ... it's a tremendous honor and one that is extremely well-deserved."
Koivu has also been a staple in the Twin Cities community and beyond. From supporting children's medical initiatives in Finland to the October 2011 announcement that he was sponsoring two private patient rooms in the Neuroscience and Epilepsy Center at Children's Minnesota in St. Paul, Koivu has always had a big impact in his community.
He continues to live in the Twin Cities and is a member of Children's Foundation Board.
"I think just that feeling like I've said before, spending many years with the team but also how much hockey means for the state of Minnesota, for people here. I think that's something you don't realize I didn't for the first couple years," Koivu said. "You just play the game and things like that. But then when you start to realize with the kids hockey and high school, college and all the way obviously to the NHL I think that's special."
The stoic Koivu, not prone to spontaneous showings of emotion, said he hasn't been able to wrap his arms around what the night of March 13 will be like for him and his family.
"No I can't," Koivu said. "I've been part of some of these when we've been on the road. You see it there but it's something that you can think about it and things like that but for sure it'll be a special night."