On the recommendation of its Honorary Committee, HC TPS has decided to retire the No. 11 of Saku Koivu, a product of the club's own junior system. The ceremony will take place on 24 October in conjunction with the TPS–Lukko game. Koivu becomes the seventh player in club history to have his number retired.

”Saku's journey from a TPS junior dressing room at the Impivaara ice rink to becoming the first European captain of the Montreal Canadiens is an extraordinary story of growth, filled with great national and international success. That journey deserves its culmination in the place where it all began. It is a great honour for Turun Palloseura to raise No. 11 alongside the club's other retired numbers,” says Kari Kauppila, Chairman of the HC TPS Honorary Committee.

Koivu came up through the TPS junior organisation, winning Finnish championships at junior levels before joining the senior team for the 1992–93 season. He won two Finnish championships in a TPS jersey, in the springs of 1993 and 1995. In the latter season he led the Finnish Liiga in scoring with 27 goals and 47 assists for 74 points and carried the team to the title. The season brought him the Jari Kurri Award as the best player of the playoffs, the Lasse Oksanen Award as the best player of the regular season, and the Golden Helmet, voted by the players themselves. A few weeks later Koivu centred the top line as Finland won its first World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. No. 11 was withdrawn from use in TPS when he left for the NHL, and no other player has worn it since.

Koivu's professional career took him to the Montreal Canadiens, who named him their first European captain in 1999. He served as captain for ten seasons, a club record he shares with the legendary Jean Béliveau. In the autumn of 2001 Koivu was diagnosed with lymphoma, yet he returned to the ice before the end of that same season — something few had thought possible. He was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. He later received the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for his humanitarian work. Koivu also returned to a TPS jersey during the NHL lockout season of 2004–05. In all, he played 1,124 regular-season games in the NHL and was selected to two All-Star Games. He ended his career with the Anaheim Ducks in the spring of 2014, having worn the alternate captain's "A" in all five of his seasons there.

As captain of the Finnish national team, Koivu led the Finnish Lions in five major tournaments. In addition to the World Championship gold, his medal haul includes two World Championship silvers, a World Championship bronze, an Olympic silver and three Olympic bronzes.

– Endless gratitude, and somehow this thought makes you very humble. TPS has of course been part of me and part of my life since I was a child, and you often think about the kind of person you have become and the upbringing you were given – the TPS coaches, staff and teammates are a really big part of that. All those players whose jersey has been raised to the rafters somewhere in the world say that it is the greatest honour an individual player can receive. There is an enormous number of great players and personalities in this club. Among them I am only a small part, but I am very proud, says Saku Koivu.

Saku Koivu's career started at TPS and led all the way to the biggest stages world hockey has to offer. He is one of the central figures in Finnish hockey, and throughout his career his roots at TPS have been inseparable from his story. Retiring his number is the highest recognition HC TPS can give to one of its players.

Previously retired numbers

• #3 Timo Nummelin
• #8 Juhani Wahlsten
• #12 Jukka Vilander
• #15 Reijo Leppänen
• #16 Rauli Tammelin
• #23 Hannu Virta
  
  

Saku Koivu's number retirement takes place on 24 October in conjunction with the TPS–Lukko Liiga -game.

Interview requests concerning the retirement of Saku Koivu's number should be directed to the communications team of Turun Palloseura. media@tps.fi +358 40 523 1545