Aatos Koivu admits it: it’s been a pretty tough season for him

Michaël Petit
Aatos Koivu admits it: it’s been a pretty tough season for him
Credit: Getty Images

When the Canadiens selected Saku's son Aatos Koivu in the third round, we knew that the chances of him becoming as good as or better than his father were pretty slim (but not nil).

They have a similar style (except for laterality), but at the same age, Saku was much more dominant than Aatos with 53 points in 47 games for TPS Turku.

This season, Aatos is struggling a little more, with just seven points in 30 games for TPS Turku too.

However, to improve, we have to admit our difficulties and work hard to move forward.

Aatos has already understood this and knows he's in for a tougher season.

Once a player admits he's struggling, it's much easier to put more effort into fine-tuning the details and becoming a better player overall.

Saku's son currently has one less point in one less game in the Liiga than last year, but we must also add that he's playing on the wing this season, rather than at center (his natural position).

It always takes a while for a youngster already playing professionally to acclimatize to a new position.

“As difficult as it is, it's going well. I've had some really good games and others where I've had a few things to work on, but it's going better than last season.” – Aatos Koivu

At the moment, Aatos is very happy to be able to represent Finland at the World Junior Championship, something he wasn't able to do last year due to mononucleosis.

Koivu wants to prove he can make a difference.

He'll have the chance to show off more in the CMJ than in the Liiga, as the Finnish junior team's coach mentions.

“The Liiga is not an easy league for a youngster of his age to get used to. Here, we'll trust him at equal strength and on the power play.” – Lauri Mikkola

As we saw in Finland's first game of the tournament, Koivu wasted no time in making his presence felt offensively with a fine goal.

Let's see if the tournament restores his confidence for the rest of the Turku campaign.


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