Minnesota Wild to Retire Mikko Koivu's Jersey Number on Sunday

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -Mikko Koivu will become the first player in Minnesota Wild history to have his jersey number retired on Sunday, March 13 when the team hosts the Nashville Predators. Gates will open at 3:45 p.m. and fans are requested to be in their seats by 5 p.m. for the start of the ceremony. Bally Sports North and KFAN 100.3 FM will carry the ceremony live starting at 5 p.m. Start time for the game has been changed to approximately 6:20 p.m. following the ceremony. Happy hour pricing will be available on select drinks at all Xcel Energy Center locations from 3:45 to 5 p.m.
The ceremony will feature speeches from Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold and Koivu, with Bally Sports North play-by-play announcer Anthony LaPanta serving as emcee. Special guests scheduled to attend include Mikko's parents Jukka and Tuire, brother Saku and his family, former Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough, Blue Jackets General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen and a number of Koivu's former Wild teammates. The ceremony will also feature a video celebrating Koivu's career. and is a member of Children's Foundation Board.
All fans in attendance will receive a commemorative "Koivu 9 replica banner" courtesy of WinCraft. Wild players will wear special Koivu #9 jerseys for on-ice warmups. These one-of-a-kind jerseys will feature a retirement patch and the captain "C" on the front and the current Wild player's number on the sleeves. Each jersey will be autographed by Koivu and the current player and auctioned online starting Sunday, March 13. The auction will end on March 23. For more information visit
wild.com/koivujersey
. A variety of commemorative items to help fans celebrate and remember the day will be available online at
Hockeylodge.com
and in store starting March 13.

The Minnesota Wild Foundation is pleased to announce a gift of $5,000 to Children's Minnesota to mark the momentous occasion and recognize the important community partnership and work Koivu has done for kids and families throughout the State of Hockey. The Wild Foundation will also celebrate this milestone moment by offering a limited number of autographed mini helmets featuring Mikko Koivu's #9 in the vintage Wild font and retirement patch decal. The Mini helmets will be on sale at Section 104 while supplies last on March 13 for $100. Proceeds will support the Wild Foundation.
Koivu recorded 711 points (206-505=711), 594 penalty minutes (PIM) and a plus-68 rating in 1,035 games during 16 NHL seasons (2005-21). He is the franchise's all-time leader in games played (1,028), assists (504), points (709), plus/minus rating (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), face-offs won (10,354), face-offs taken (19,290), shootout attempts (107), shootout goals (42), game deciding goals (18) and playoff games played (59). Koivu was selected by the Wild with the sixth overall pick in the 2001 NHL Draft and was named the first full-time team captain in team history on Oct. 20, 2009. After 15 seasons with the Wild, he signed with Columbus on Oct. 10, 2020, and played in seven games with the Blue Jackets before announcing his retirement on Feb. 9, 2021.
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 Saint Paul, Koivu has always had a big impact in his community. He continues to live in the Twin Cities