They traveled to see Mikko make good, and he did

For much of Sunday afternoon, the Wild's Team of 18,000 could barely be heard over the Finnish Traveling Party of 30.

It was a quiet afternoon at the X, except when Mikko Koivu touched the puck. Then, from the Club Level, a group of Finns dressed in identical No. 9 jerseys, with identical, authentic Mikko Koivu autographs across the top of the number on their backs, began chanting "Me-Ko! Me-Ko!"

They were still chanting his name 15 minutes after the game ended, having watched their host and hero score the winning shootout goal for the Wild in a 3-2 victory over Edmonton. They gathered on the Club Level -- one wore a helmet affixed with a goal lamp -- and turned Koivu's name into a song of celebration.

"It was like in a script," said Kari Hietarinta, general manager of TPS Turku, the Finnish Elite team Mikko and his brother Saku played for. "Because tomorrow we are traveling home, and tonight we are having dinner with him. We were waiting."

The Finns made themselves pleasantly conspicuous during their five-day trip. They rummaged through the Wild's Hockey Lodge store, looking for anything with a No. 9 printed on it. They took a group photo with Koivu at the X -- and Koivu was the only one at the time not wearing his number. They took over the Headwaters Bar & Grill at the X for one lunch, and the rumor is that they wiped out the beer supply. "We had a few lectures with the Minnesota Wild about how they build their brand," said Tommi Minnila, one of the TPS sponsors. "In the morning, we had lectures. At night, maybe a few beers."

Koivu's father, Jukka, is a legendary coach in Finland. Jukka and his wife, Tuire, spent part of the trip with the group, but it was the sponsors and organizers of TPS Turku who attended the game Sunday, in which Koivu also picked up a key assist before ending the drama in the shootout. Sunday marked the first time Koivu had played in front of a group of his countrymen in the United States.

The group watched two Wild games and attended the Gophers-Wisconsin game on Saturday.

"Minnesota was a bit lazy, too passive, today," he said. "I think what was missing from their game was passion -- their trademark. They should get more hits, more checking, and they looked a bit tired."

Perhaps because the Finns imposed too much beer-drinking on the Wild players? "No, no, Mikko wasn't drinking," Hietarinta said. "We were."

Koivu and Hietarinta gushed about the organization's hospitality. Everyone from owner Craig Leipold to vice president of media and broadcasting Bill Robertson met with them. "We're trying to get the example from here, how they run the organization, how they deal with fans and sponsors," Koivu said. "It's been very good. We're very pleased with what the Wild did for us. It's been all first class."

Koivu said TPS Turku used to dominate the Finnish Elite League but has slumped this decade. Hietarinta said of all the outstanding Finns in the NHL -- from Miikka Kiprusoff to Teemu Selanne to Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom -- Mikko is emerging as a star.

"I think people who don't understand hockey, they look and see that Saku is the captain of Montreal in the capital of hockey, so I think they think that Saku is the brightest star," Hietarinta said. "And of course he is, in a way. But now he's on the second line, he's not on the first power-play line, he's not playing such a big role, so in my opinion, Mikko is the brightest."

As they left the X, they gathered inside the front gate, locking arms and offering one more song. "We wanted Mikko to succeed today," Hietarinta said. "And he did."