Happy anniversary: Wild's Koivu is 10 years removed from NHL debut
Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu is celebrating his 10-year anniversary on Thursday.
No, we're not talking about the 32-year-old Finn's social status. Rather, Koivu made his NHL debut exactly 10 years ago to the day in Minnesota's 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
"It does feel like 10 years, but only in a good way," Koivu told reporters on Thursday prior to the home game pitting the Wild (7-2-2) against the Central Division-rival Nashville Predators (7-2-2). "There’s a lot of ups and downs like in sports always, but there’s so many good things with being able to play with one team and one city and the friendships that you create."
Koivu's first NHL evening was not cause for celebration, as he logged one second over 13 minutes of ice time against the Sharks, losing all four faceoffs and recording two penalty minutes.
Koivu's first shift in San Jose in '05, Patrick Marleau flew by him and hit crossbar: "I was like, 'woah, this is fast.'" #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) November 5, 2015
Things got progressively better for Koivu, who has 147 goals to go along with a franchise-best 364 assists and 511 points. This season, Koivu has scored three goals and set up eight others in 11 games.
