Mikko Koivu Mikko Sakari Koivu ( born March 12 , 1983 ) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who plays centre and is team captain of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . He is the younger brother of Saku Koivu , who plays for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Playing career . After playing in the Finnish junior leagues , Koivu began playing for TPS of the SM - liiga as a seventeen - year - old in 2000 – 01 . He was selected 6th overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild and continued to play with TPS Turku for three more seasons . Koivu moved to North America in the 2004 – 05 to play for Minnesota ' s AHL affiliate , the Houston Aeros . The next season , he made his NHL debut with the Wild , scoring 21 points in his rookie season . In 2006 – 07 , Koivu improved to a career - high 20 goals , 34 assists and 54 points . Injuries slowed him down in his third season ; in a game against the Vancouver Canucks , defenceman Mattias Öhlund retaliated to an unpenalized elbow from Koivu and slashed him , breaking a bone in Koivu ' s leg . Ohlund was given a four game suspension and Koivu missed 24 games . Before the 2008 – 09 season started , Koivu was announced as a permanent alternate captain for the entire season along with teammate Andrew Brunette , assuming they weren ' t captain for the month . But Koivu started the 2008 – 09 season as team captain for the months of October and November . Though rumors swirled that former Wild coach Jacques Lemaire was close stopping rotating the captaincy and naming Koivu the permantant captain , he was replaced by Kim Johnsson in December , and went back to his role as alternate captain . In January 2009 , Koivu was once again honored with the Wild captaincy after only a month ' s pause . Despite the team not officially giving up on rotating captaincy , many fans view Koivu as the de facto captain of the Wild . The fact that Koivu was once again chosen to captain the team in March 2009 ( with Andrew Brunette acting as captain in February ) only strengthens this opinion . With the Wild ' s complete restructuring of their management in 2009 , Koivu has a chance at becoming the team ' s first permanent captain . On October 16 , Koivu tied a Wild franchise record for most assists in a game with four against the Florida Panthers . He also added a goal for a career - high five - point game as the Wild defeated Florida 6 - 2 . International play . As a junior , Koivu competed in two World Junior U18 Championships , capturing gold in 2000 and bronze in 2001 . Koivu did double duty in 2001 , also participating in the World Junior Championships , earning a silver medal while contributing 3 assists . He played in his second World Juniors the following year in 2002 , tallying 5 points in 6 games as Finland captured another silver medal . It also marked Koivu ' s fourth and final medal in junior international play . Before making his North America n début in the AHL , Koivu competed in the 2004 World Cup as Finland finished runner - up to Team Canada . Two years later , he appeared in the 2006 Winter Olympics . Koivu failed to register a point as Finland finished with a silver medal . Beginning in 2006 , Koivu has appeared in three consecutive World Championships . He helped Finland to a bronze medal in 2006 with 4 points , then matched his output the following year with another 4 points in 2007 as Finland improved to a silver medal . In the 2008 World Championships , Koivu became a key contributor , tallying an international career - high 9 points in 9 games as Finland won the bronze medal . Koivu holds the distinction of medaling in every international competition he has participated in with Finland . In 2011 in the 2011 Koivu Captained the Finnish National team when they won the nations second Gold medal .