koivu was regularly partnered with teemu selänne and jere lehtinen in a line if all three were available. the trio has been a key factor to finland's success at many bigger events. the line plays mainly to the excellent chemistry koivu and selänne seem to have and this has also affected the nhl; after 1999 world championships, selänne said in an interview on a finnish tv program, "it would be great to play with saku," which led to speculation about koivu being traded to anaheim. this finally became true a decade later when koivu signed with anaheim in july 2009.