Koivu eager for return to 'normal life'

ST. PAUL -- Mikko Koivu remembers the initial feeling he had when he found out his season was over. For the first time in his 15-year NHL career, Koivu, the Wild's captain, would not finish what he started.
Of course, there's been injuries during his career. Some have been worse than others.
But nothing that has ever forced him to endure listening to that grim of a prognosis.

"It's almost like a hopeless feeling," Koivu said on Thursday in his first comments on the record since sustaining a season-ending knee injury in Buffalo on Feb. 5. "It's tough to describe what you go through, but once you find out more, what it is, the rehab, the experience from other players that went through it, it's encouraging and I think, right away, gives you that extra spark that it will be just fine."
Over the years, Koivu has had a variety of ailments, including a knee injury earlier this season that forced him to miss four games.
Initially, he said the injury this time felt very similar to the sprained left knee he sustained back in December. But once he got back to the dressing room and doctors were able to get a good look at his right knee, hope quickly went south.

"They usually know," Koivu said. "So I kind of knew right after the game."
The following day, an MRI confirmed Koivu had torn the anterior cruciate ligament, and what was believed to be a torn meniscus, in his right knee, although Koivu said on Thursday that the damage to that wasn't as severe as initially believed.
While the news didn't catch him completely off guard, where Koivu had to prepare was mentally. Not a homebody by any stretch, Koivu has essentially been forced to spend more time on the couch at home, watching TV more than he'd like. He hasn't been able to help much around the house or assist his wife, Helena, with the couple's three children.
"Not a lot of fun," Koivu said. "There's not much you can do right now. I think in the end, my wife, she has to do all the work. There's four kids around the house now. That can't be fun for her."
Koivu already began his rehab process two days ago with some light movements. In most cases, ACL patients must rehab for up to a month before having surgery, as was the case with Luke Kunin last March.
With Koivu, he had his surgical repair done within 72 hours of the injury taking place. Now, nearly a week post-op, Koivu is hoping some normalcy can return away from the rink in the next seven days or so.
"Once you get back to normal life, you can drive a car, and move around the house, just do something, I think that's what I'm waiting for now," Koivu said. "After that, it'll be a little bit easier."
While the team wouldn't reveal a timeline for Koivu's potential return until the summer, Koivu has the beginning of training camp in September already circled on his calendar.
Even he knows, however, much stands between now and that day, so he's taking things on a more even-keeled approach.
"I'm in good hands here," Koivu said. "It's just day-by-day and week-by-week right now.
"Once we get the motion back, and you can get back doing the bike and doing stuff at the gym, I think we'll have some short-term] goals and then some long-term goals. I think training camp, right now ... it's too early to talk about that too much, but that's definitely my goal and being 100 percent once camp starts again."
**Related:**
- [Wild braces for life without its captain - Koivu undergoes successful knee surgery