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Finland’s Black Friday: Wild captain Koivu to miss Olympics

New York Islanders v Minnesota Wild

ST PAUL, MN - DECEMBER 29: Mikko Koivu #9 of the Minnesota Wild looks on while waiting for a face-off during the game against the New York Islanders on December 29, 2013 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. The Islanders defeated 5-4. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Hannah Foslien

Finland’s hopes of winning a medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics may have been ruined.

According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu will not be headed to the Olympics after not being cleared to play following ankle surgery on Jan. 6. He’s expected to make that official at an announcement at 2 p.m. ET.

Koivu was injured against the Washington Capitals on January 5 and had surgery the next day so as to attempt to be back in time to play in the Olympics. That won’t be the case, however, as he hasn’t resumed playing yet and has only been skating recently with the Wild.

Koivu joins Tampa Bay Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula on Finland’s injured list. It was announced earlier today that Filppula wouldn’t be headed to Sochi after suffering a non-displaced fracture in his ankle against the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.

Without Koivu and Filppula, the Finns are down to Winnipeg Jets center Olli Jokinen and Wild center Mikael Granlund as their top two pivots. That makes for a dicey situation for a team that was believed to be a medal threat at the Olympics. Finland opens in Group B with Austria, Canada, and Norway.

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