Here’s why Aatos Koivu only played 1:09 minutes yesterday

His coach justifies his decision to leave him on the bench by saying that sometimes, in these types of games, some players play and some don’t.

If Koivu didn’t have the confidence of his coach Lauri Mikkola in an important game, certainly, but not a meaningless one, I don’t see how he’ll be used against the Americans tomorrow night, in the semi-final and final, if Finland make it that far.

Clearly, starting the match with a -2 record isn’t optimal, and in a match for first place, Mikkola had decisions to make.

It’s not as if the Habs’ prospect came in as a savior. This season, in 30 games with TPS Turku, he has two goals and five assists. Koivu got off to a good start, scoring the Finns’ first goal of the tournament. Since then, however, things have gone from bad to worse.

He’s only 19 and has some time in his homeland to improve before heading to North America. Because yes, he will come to America one day. He’ll probably never play for the Habs, but he’d be a great asset to the Laval Rocket, most likely.

Overtime

– He had just been named to the Olympics.

– Nice.

– Indeed.

– No question about it.