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Montreal Canadiens give Saku Koivu the chair

Greg Wyshynski

Saku Koivu played 792 games for the Montreal Canadiens from 1995 through 2009. He captained the Habs. He beat cancer as a Hab. He became a fan favorite for the Habs, before taking his talents to the Anaheim Ducks, where he’s played the last four seasons.

At 38 years old and on a 1-year contract, Thursday night may mark the final trip for Koivu to Bell Centre. And what better way to honor an old hockey player than with something that’ll take him off his feet for a while:

Yes, it’s a Saku Koivu chair from the Montreal Canadiens, complete with numbers and nameplate so he can be properly identified by media visiting his rec room.

Here’s another look. Koivu found it in the Ducks' locker room.

For Koivu, visiting the Canadiens remains special. Via ESPN:

"It’s only the second time for me back [in Montreal]. The first time two years ago and it was a very emotional game, the whole couple of days. I'm hoping it's going to be a little easier for myself to put the skates on and face the Canadiens and the fans again. It’s for sure going to be a lot of memories and emotional, but hopefully a fun one. It’s great to see the people and some of the close friends that were with me for all that time."

How appropriate that a player who brought so many of those fans out of their seats with his offensive wizardry would one day receive one from Montreal …