(Buffalo) Music brings out the best in us. The video archives contain indecent extracts that we would prefer to see buried forever, and we are not even talking here about karaoke evenings that are a bit too drunk.
Somewhere in the Koivu household, one of these videos exists. “I’m told I spoke a little French and there’s even a video of me singing O Canada in French! My parents have that. But I don’t speak it anymore,” Aatos Koivu told La Presse last week at the NHL evaluation camp.
Aatos is the son of Saku Koivu, the man behind the longest captaincy in Canadian history, tied with Jean Béliveau. Aatos is also a 2024 draft prospect, as a forward for TPS Turku, where his father’s career began. In the “son of” category, Tij Iginla will attract more attention since he is expected in the top 10, but in Montreal and Anaheim, the name Koivu obviously has a special connotation.
That said, Aatos Koivu has very few memories of Quebec. Born in June 2006, he was 3 years old when his father left the Habs to join the Ducks. “I remember the Bell Centre, how can I forget it? And I remember our house, and a small park near the house,” he lists.
In fact, from Montreal, he especially remembers the tribute evening to the former number 11, in December 2014, a few months after his retirement. The rest he saw on video, notably Koivu’s return to the game on April 9, 2002. It remains, to this day, one of the most moving moments in the 30-year history of the game. Bell Center.
So it’s mainly from Anaheim, where Saku played from 2009 to 2014, that he keeps memories. “My school, our house and the arena. I have more memories than in Montreal. We left when I was 10. We stayed there for six or seven years,” he emphasizes.
At 6’1″ and 170 lbs, Koivu is destined to be more like his uncle Mikko (6’3″) than his father (5’10”). His father and uncle were first-round picks, but everything indicates that Aatos will have to wait until Day 2 before knowing his fate. He played just four games in the Finnish Liiga last season, and provided modest production (one point in five games) at the U18 World Championship.
He still met 26 teams, including the Canadian, to whom he presented himself as a center “good in both directions of the game”, like his compatriot Sebastian Aho, from whom he tries to draw inspiration.
Saku and Mikko Koivu were also recognized for their dedication in all three zones. But Aatos claims to have charted his own path.
“It came from me. Both try not to get too involved in my hockey. I like it better than if my father or uncle had told me what to do. I prefer it to come from me. »
It remains to be seen where this will take him in two weeks in Vegas.
