Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said his injured left eye is "okay for every-day living" but it remains to be seen whether the injury will affect his hockey career.

"My vision is fine looking straight ahead; it's the peripheral vision that is limited," Koivu said yesterday after teeing it up in the Canadiens' annual golf tournament at Laval-sur-le-Lac.

Koivu suffered damage to his retina when he was struck in the eye by an errant stick wielded by Justin Williams in Game 3 of the Canadiens-Carolina playoff series in April.

Koivu received the okay from doctors to resume skating last month and spent three weeks working out with TPS Turku, his former team in his home town in Finland.

"I just skated; I didn't have any contact," Koivu explained. "I'll have a better idea of where I am after I see the doctors here and I start practising."

The golf tournament is the annual kickoff for the Canadiens' season and is a major fundraiser for the Montreal Canadiens' Children's Foundation. Bob Sirois, volunteer president of the foundation, said the event raised $315,188 for the foundation, which provides support for hundreds of community organizations that help underprivileged children.

"We've come a long way in six years," Sirois said. "We're currently raising about $1.3 million a year. We put 20 per cent of that away and we're giving away about $1 million a year.

"Our golf tournament is sold out and we have a waiting list. One of the things which makes our foundation unique is that we have only one (paid) employee and we get tremendous support from a large number of volunteers. That allows us to make maximum use of the funds we raise."

In addition to the money collected from the golfers, who paid anywhere from $3,750 for a threesome with a player to $4,500 for a foursome, last night's contributions included the proceeds from a silent and a live auction.

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