Koivu: Fallen Leader?
This article is by no way, shape, or form meant to disrepsect my favorite player. It’s just an observation that I have notice over the past year and a half.
As of January 17th, 2008, Saku Koivu is 2nd on the team in penalty minutes, just 1 minute of penalties shy of team leaders Mike Komisarek and Tom Kostopolous with 66 PIMs.
Is it just me, or does Koivu seem to take a lot of lazy penalties? It seems as though every time he takes a penalty, it is a hook from behind when trying to backcheck the rush, or a tripping penalty after a turnover in the offensive zone. Very rarely do I see Saku take a penalty that is warrented, ie., taking away a scoring chance.
I’ve also noticed that his passes have been sloppy. Not that I could do any better, but it isn’t the same Saku Koivu that we’ve been acustomed to over the years. I have 100 percent faith in Koivu, and believe he is most certainly an asset for this team, for his leadership abilities, and his grit, but he ins’t that number one center that Montreal has needed ever so much over the last decade. Koivu has always been the #1 center in Montreal, but we all know that a #1 center should put up more numbers than he has thus far this season.
His current line:
GM G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW S S%
Saku Koivu 44 8 25 33 -1 65 4 0 1 92 9.8
Among the league’s top centers for each team, Koivu ranks among the bottom for points. Is this an off year for Koivu, or the beginning of his decline as a star in Montreal?
Time will only tell.
As for me, I’ve been a huge fan of Koivu since he broke into the league. I was hoping that he would land the Calder trophy instead of Alfredsson in Ottawa, but to no avail. Koivu’s heart, leadership, and grit will lead Montreal, and not the points he puts on the board.
Thoughts?