Koivu looks to test injured eye at camp
Canadian Press
9/5/2006 2:23:20 PM
MONTREAL (CP) - Saku Koivu will start training camp with lingering concern for his injured left eye.
The eye was red and still partly closed when the Montreal Canadiens captain arrived at the team's annual charity golf tournament at Laval-Sur-La-Lac on Tuesday.
It was a lot better than the swollen mess of last April, when his eye was clipped under his visor by a high stick from Carolina's Justin Williams during an NHL playoff game. Koivu had surgery to repair a detached retina in the off-season.
"It's going a lot better," he said, a touch of concern in his voice. "We'll do more tests next week.
"We're hoping for the best."
The Canadiens first-line centre said he still has problems with peripheral vision and doesn't know if - or how much - it will affect his play on the ice.
"Whether it gets better, I don't know," he said. "I'm hoping it won't affect too much.
"Now I want to get into some scrimmages and battles on the ice and see how it reacts. We'll see in training camp when we play serious hockey how the eye will react."
Koivu will wear a visor one size larger this season "just to make sure it won't happen again."
He has already been skating for two weeks with it at home in Turku, Finland.
In Game 3 of the first round of playoffs on April 26, Koivu was breaking to the Carolina net when he was clipped by Williams' stick. He collapsed to the ice and then was rushed to hospital, where he spent two nights as doctors tried to assess the damage through swelling and bleeding.
The Canadiens were giving the Hurricanes a battle up to that point, but had no hope against the eventual Stanley Cup champions once their captain was gone.
It was the latest in a terrible run of health problems for the 31-year-old, who besides a string of knee injuries, and who missed most of the 2001-02 season recovering from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a type of cancer in the abdomen.
To have Koivu unable to start the season, or if his play is diminished, would be a setback for the Canadiens, who made few off-season changes in the belief that a young team would progress naturally in 2006-07.
Forwards Jan Bulis, Richard Zednik and Niklas Sundstrom are gone, while general manager Bob Gainey acquired wingers Sergei Samsonov and Mike Johnson.
The rest of the team is intact, with one spot open for a young forward to win in camp.
Gainey is confident Koivu will be fine.
"With such a serious injury, there's always that bridge to get over where he actually gets back into competition," said Gainey. "He's been training, skating.
"He's been working with his former team in Finland, but he'll have to get back on the ice here and pass through that barrier."
If not, it places more pressure on second centre Mike Ribeiro, who many see playing between Samsonov and Alex Kovalev this season.
"We really hope for Saku, but if he can't start the season, it'll probably up to me to step up and for some younger guys maybe to mature quicker than they're supposed to," said Ribeiro.
The Canadiens also have Radek Bonk, Tomas Plekanec and Chris Higgins who play centre.
The major change this season sees Gainey leave his head coaching duties to his former assistant Guy Carbonneau. Former Canadien Kirk Muller also moves in as an assistant coach.
Gainey said he likes his lineup and doesn't foresee making trades before the season.
"One thing I'm hopeful about is that last year, it took a long time for us to become a team," he said. "We didn't make many changes in the summer, and we're hopeful that lack of turnover will allow the players to become cohesive and a good team quicker."
Training camp opens Sept.14.
Samsonov, delayed by the visa process, was the only no-show at the golf tournament, although injured defenceman Francis Bouillon and non-golfer Plekanec didn't play.
