saku antero koivu (; born november 23, 1974) is a finnish former professional ice hockey player who played in the national hockey league (nhl). he began his nhl career with the montreal canadiens in 1995–96 after three seasons with tps of the finnish sm-liiga. koivu served as the canadiens' captain for ten of his 14 years with the club, which makes him the longest captaincy tenure in team history, tied with jean béliveau. koivu was the first european player to captain the montreal canadiens.