Wild will retire Mikko Koivu's #9 on March 13th, first player to have number retired by team

[LOFIN]

I mean, it's kind of a necessary reality for clubs that didn't exist during an era when every team was almost guaranteed to have a HOF'er on their roster.

Number retirements aren't like the Hall of Fame, it's not a best player contest. It's more about telling the story of the franchise. For expansion clubs that's typically going to involve a non-superstar player or two who set the tone for the culture in the first generation of the club's existence -- often, guys who could have been superstars in a more established/contending environment. For O6 teams that's necessarily going to mean first ballot type players, but for expansion clubs it's more like your Mikko Koivu, Rick Nash, Pekka Rinne types.

Yeah. Koivu was a big player for the Wild. If the fans only want to limit jersey retirement to guys who are big for their club and HHOF, well sure. Prepare to wait 50 years more. 'Cause Kaprizov isn't going to be that for the Wild lol.

 

[TaLoN]

My first and only jersey I have ever bought. The guy was a rock.

I named my blue quaker parrot after him.

Helps that the bird's colors match that of team Finland... had to name him Mikko!

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Yeah. Koivu was a big player for the Wild. If the fans only want to limit jersey retirement to guys who are big for their club and HHOF, well sure. Prepare to wait 50 years more. 'Cause Kaprizov isn't going to be that for the Wild lol.

And if that's what it is, then that's what it is.

 

[Drewcifer]

The most unfortunate part of his career was that his best years were wasted on some of the worst Wild teams, after Gaborik left and before Parise and Suter were signed he carried the team by himself. I still don't think he was good enough to have his number retired though.

 

[tarheelhockey]

And if that's what it is, then that's what it is.

But what's the point of waiting for that to happen? Why even have number retirements as a hypothetical practice if you're never going to actually do it?

The HHOF is there for the guys who are at that level of playing greatness. Number retirements are about contributions to a team.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

But what's the point of waiting for that to happen? Why even have number retirements as a hypothetical practice if you're never going to actually do it?

The HHOF is there for the guys who are at that level of playing greatness. Number retirements are about contributions to a team.

Setting a proper standard.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Setting a proper standard.

A higher standard than being the face of the franchise for 15 years?

 

[Voight]

Is it just me or are recent expansion teams carrying much lower standards for jersey retirements than they should be?

Jersey retirement is often about what a player means to the fan base / team.

Wendel Clark for example, was a huge fan favourite which is why the Leafs honoured and then retired his number.

Always figured Koivu would be the first number retired for Minny. Glad he gets his day.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

A higher standard than being the face of the franchise for 15 years?

The face of a franchise that played in zero conference finals games in 15 years? I guess.

Like I've always said. Honor him any other way than crossing off the number 9 from being used for the rest of existence. I consider that shit to be for the immortals. They obviously disagree.

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

Ouff…..

 

[Chrisinroch]

Is it just me or are recent expansion teams carrying much lower standards for jersey retirements than they should be?

They’ve retired one jersey in 21 years.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I mean, it's kind of a necessary reality for clubs that didn't exist during an era when every team was almost guaranteed to have a HOF'er on their roster.

Number retirements aren't like the Hall of Fame, it's not a best player contest. It's more about telling the story of the franchise. For expansion clubs that's typically going to involve a non-superstar player or two who set the tone for the culture in the first generation of the club's existence -- often, guys who could have been superstars in a more established/contending environment. For O6 teams that's necessarily going to mean first ballot type players, but for expansion clubs it's more like your Mikko Koivu, Rick Nash, Pekka Rinne types.

great post!

 

[93LEAFS]

Jersey retirement is often about what a player means to the fan base / team.

Wendel Clark for example, was a huge fan favourite which is why the Leafs honoured and then retired his number.

Always figured Koivu would be the first number retired for Minny. Glad he gets his day.

I liked what the Blue Jays policy was pre-Halladay, which is it gets retired if you go into the Hall of Fame with the team logo on the hat. I think most professional teams should have that policy, but I get why it has been lowered in a lot of cases.

Now announce the Habs retiring Saku's #11, they can be the first brothers to both have their numbers retired.

Aren't both the Esposito's numbers retired? Phil's in Boston and Tony's in Chicago.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Wish he had retired as a career Wild I love seeing players play for only 1 franchise.

He had 28 points in 59 career playoff games and he never reached a conference finals. Under 750 career points in over 1,000 games and no hardware. Not the kind of player I would be excited to see a jersey retirement from.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The face of a franchise that played in zero conference finals games in 15 years? I guess.

Like I've always said. Honor him any other way than crossing off the number 9 from being used for the rest of existence. I consider that shit to be for the immortals. They obviously disagree.

Frankly we might not (either of us) live to see a true "immortal" play for the Wild. That can be said about any of the expansion teams, or for that matter any team in the league starting with their next rebuild. It's a sobering thought.

It comes down to, you're building a franchise and culture. The culture that works for an O6 team isn't going to translate directly to an organization that started in the 21st Century. I don't see much to be gained from leaving a bunch of empty space in the rafters to honor players who aren't necessarily coming. If a player has a clear-cut profile of being the face of the franchise for a long period of time, there's no harm in it.

 

[Voight]

I liked what the Blue Jays policy was pre-Halladay, which is it gets retired if you go into the Hall of Fame with the team logo on the hat. I think most professional teams should have that policy, but I get why it has been lowered in a lot of cases.


Aren't both the Esposito's numbers retired? Phil's in Boston and Tony's in Chicago.

I agree, and Baseball (along with NFL teams) are pretty strict in this regard.

 

[93LEAFS]

I agree, and Baseball (along with NFL teams) are pretty strict in this regard.

Football has changed its numbering rules in the past year. But given the limited numbers allowed for certain positions, you obviously couldn't go crazy retiring numbers.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Frankly we might not (either of us) live to see a true "immortal" play for the Wild. That can be said about any of the expansion teams, or for that matter any team in the league starting with their next rebuild. It's a sobering thought.

It comes down to, you're building a franchise and culture. The culture that works for an O6 team isn't going to translate directly to an organization that started in the 21st Century. I don't see much to be gained from leaving a bunch of empty space in the rafters to honor players who aren't necessarily coming. If a player has a clear-cut profile of being the face of the franchise for a long period of time, there's no harm in it.

And if that's the case, then it is what it is. I don't feel like I'm owed to see one. I just feel like the first one establishes the standard, and if that standard is Koivu, then I think there's going to be a lot of jerseys making the case to be retired.

 

[Tutu to]

Now announce the Habs retiring Saku's #11, they can be the first brothers to both have their numbers retired.

Wut

 

[FireGerardGallant]

Good for Mikko
Not every jersey retirement needs to be for a player who was a star. Hes by far the Wild's leader in games played and points, makes sense for him to have his number in the rafters.

 

[Arselona]

Koivu was a good two-way player. He played 10 senior tournaments for Team Finland. Finland took a medal in 8 of those tournaments. The national team's record clearly worsened once Wild started to make the playoffs regularly during the 2010's.

 

[93LEAFS]

I mean, it's kind of a necessary reality for clubs that didn't exist during an era when every team was almost guaranteed to have a HOF'er on their roster.

Number retirements aren't like the Hall of Fame, it's not a best player contest. It's more about telling the story of the franchise. For expansion clubs that's typically going to involve a non-superstar player or two who set the tone for the culture in the first generation of the club's existence -- often, guys who could have been superstars in a more established/contending environment. For O6 teams that's necessarily going to mean first ballot type players, but for expansion clubs it's more like your Mikko Koivu, Rick Nash, Pekka Rinne types.

Honest question though. Why do these franchises need to have retired numbers before a truly deserving candidate emerges? The Toronto Blue Jays went 34 years without retiring a number, and the Toronto Raptors have gone over 26 years without having a number retired (although Lowry's will be as soon as he retires, Vince's likely will be too).

 

[BrokenFace]

To everyone complaining about his playoffs record, who was his best goalie during his playoff runs? Who was the Wild's best offensive player between Gaborik and a past his prime Parise? Who was the best dman they had before they got a few good years Suter? Who was their best non-Koivu center?

Blaming Koivu for not making deep playoff runs on the Wild is like blaming Price for the lack of playoff wins in Montreal before last year's run. If you run your organization the right way then good things happen. Retiring the number of your gritty face of the franchise, a guy who gave your expansion franchise an injection of identity, qualifies as a good thing for a team to do to me.

 

[Stubu]

I do miss an angry Koivu from time to time. Way to go Mikko!

Angry Birch!

 

[hirawl]

You can argue whether it's sexy enough or if his offensive numbers or playoff history warrant it etc. But as for the overall importance to this particular franchise it's a f***ing slam dunk no-brainer. So much so that it actually hurts to think some Wild fans would rather wait for someone more deserving as they say. To set a higher standard lmfao. There's a real chance that guy's parents haven't even hit puberty yet.

Congrats Mikko.