The Minnesota Wild will have former captain and franchise icon Mikko Koivu at training camp this season, but not as a player. Michael Russo of The Athletic tweets that the expectation is that Koivu will have an official position with the organization eventually, though none has been announced yet.
Koivu, 38, retired earlier this year, leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets after playing just seven games. That time in Columbus is perhaps an unfortunate footnote on a career that up until then was spent entirely in Minnesota, spanning 15 years and more than 1,000 games with the organization.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired a pair of goaltending development coaches, bringing in Kain Tisi and Charles Grant. The two will work with goaltending prospects throughout the Penguins organization, in Europe, the minor leagues, juniors and college hockey, as well as scout draft-eligible and college free agent goalies. Tisi previously worked with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, while Grant is coming over from the Cape Breton Eagles of the QMJHL.
- Toronto Maple Leafs development camp has a bit of a different feel this season and that’s in part due to the leadership. Hayley Wickenheiser was promoted to senior director of player development earlier this year and she’s running the camp, telling TSN’s Kristen Shilton the group has decided to “create a competitive environment versus a teaching environment.” A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, it’s actually Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser now; she’s also currently doing an emergency room rotation at a Toronto hospital.
Wow thats awesome… getting paid to be in pro hockey and saving lives.
Absolutely. I remember reading about her medical school studies when she was preparing for one of her Olympic appearances but I hadn’t realized that she had graduated, that’s awesome.
man, that’s something. hard to be that good at either of those things, much less both.
Emergency room work is about dealing with pressure of people in intense situations at times and thinking clearly (to sort out what needs to be done with a line up of others awaiting attention) while committed to the service of others. It requires supremely great leadership skills.
They aren’t trauma surgeons, and will dispatch more serious cases to specialists, but they will take intermediary steps to get the patient more time to have their case dealt with by a specialist. It’s not so strange that an athlete with a very sound mind could pull off a career there, but it is rare to see an athlete with so much selflessness and caring for others to be drawn to it. Rare for most people generally too. Hopefully the experiences will grow and strengthen her goals as a leader even further.
“Time in Columbus is perhaps an unfortunate footnote” Burn! ;)