Saku Koivu

“You always need younger guys if you're going to be successful in the long term.”

“When you have a core group of young players as we do, the future looks bright.”

“I always knew where I was going eventually, so it helped me to stay at home for three years. It helped me to develop my game. But it also helped me off the ice. Life here is way different, and I was able to get older.”

“It's been tough for me being away from the game.”

“I'm confident and really optimistic.”

“My relationship and the bond with the people in Montreal was kind of special and doesn't happen very often.”

“It goes way, way back when we were under Sweden's rule. We always think they are better than us. We played against them so often for so many years. Every country has one opponent they want to beat and for us, it's Sweden.”

“The most important thing is to stay positive.”

“I was lucky that it hit my shaft, and then my helmet, and I was lucky enough to get that breakaway.”

“I haven't been back in Montreal, at all, since the playoffs ended two years ago. It's been a while.”

“We found out tonight how important and how crucial momentum swings can be. I thought we were playing very well. We were doing a lot of positive things but then we lost the puck two times in our zone and things swung their way. You can't afford to give teams momentum.”

“I felt like an outsider. The only time you get to really know guys is on the ice, and I couldn't be there.”

“Obviously, that off-the-ice battle I went through, plus injuries I came back from, I always felt the fans are really knowledgeable there and respected and appreciated guys that gave whatever they had and guys that fought through things.”

“The excitement of the fans in Montreal, especially in the playoffs, I don't think you can get that anywhere else. For a hockey player, I kind of wish everyone could go through that and experience what it is to play there. It's very unique.”

“We've got to win them all and get help from other teams, but we are going to push until the end.”

“Whatever the reason is, I hope we can finish talking about the Olympics. It's gone, it's behind us. The schedule wasn't proper for players who went there and there is some fatigue in a lot guys' play right now.”

“We can't afford to go lose two, three in a row. We've got to keep climbing and getting wins.”