Who is Joe Sakic

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The Colorado Avalanche Captain, Burnaby Joe...

Retired from the league July 9th, thanks for all the great memories Joe!

The story so far of Joe and the Colorado Avalanche

In June of 1995, the Quebec Nordiques announced that they had been sold and were leaving Quebec. At the start of the 1995-96 NHL season, the franchise moved to Denver, Colorado and was renamed the Colorado Avalanche. Sakic led the team to its first Stanley Cup championship, scoring 120 points in 82 regular season games and 34 points in 22 playoff games. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 NHL playoffs. During the run for the cup, Sakic again proved himself to be an effective team leader. Although he had missed the playoffs in five of his first seven years in the NHL, and lacked any postseason experience, he scored eighteen goals, including six game-winners, and thirty-four points. He was one goal off from the record for goals in a playoff year, and his game-winning goals established a new record.[20]

In the 1996-97 season, Sakic only played in sixty-five games due to a lacerated calf,[4] yet still managed to score 74 points as the Avalanche earned their first President's Trophy and third straight division title.[17] He had another great playoff season with eight goals and seventeen assists, and took the Avalanche all the way to the conference finals, where they eventually lost to the Detroit Red Wings in six games. As a free agent during the summer of 1997, Sakic signed a three year, $21 million offer with the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent. Under the collective bargaining agreement at the time, the Avalanche had one week to match the Rangers' offer or let go of Sakic. Colorado would match the offer,[12] which instigated a salary raise for many NHL players.[21]

Injuries would again limit Sakic's playing time in the 1997-98 season. While playing in his first Olympics with Team Canada, Sakic hurt his knee and was forced to miss eighteen games with the Avalanche.[16] In the sixty-four games he did play in, he still scored sixty-three points, enough to earn him his seventh All-Star appearance.[17] He finally rebounded from his injury problems in the 1998-99 season, finishing fifth in the league in scoring with forty-one goals and ninety-six points in only seventy-three games. He led the Avalanche all the way to within one game of the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup winning Dallas Stars. After the season ended, Sakic was ranked number 94 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.[22]

During the 1999-00 season, Sakic reached several career milestones. Injuries limited him to only sixty games, but he still managed to lead the team in scoring with eighty-one points. On December 27, 1999, against the St. Louis Blues, Sakic earned an assist to become the fifty-sixth player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points.[23] Later in the season, on March 23rd, 2000, he scored a hat trick against the Phoenix Coyotes, and became the fifty-ninth player to score 400 career goals.[23] It also gave him 1,049 points with the Quebec/Colorado franchise, passing Peter Stastny as the all-time leader on the team.[17] Sakic eclipsed the 100 point mark again in 2000-01, finishing with 118 along with a career best fifty-four goals. He led the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup championship, and won the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award. After the Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils in the 2001 finals in seven games, Sakic, received the cup first as the captain. But instead of hoisting it high, he passed it straight to Ray Bourque, a player who had waited a record-breaking twenty-two seasons to win the Stanley Cup.[24] The 2001-02 season saw Sakic lead the Avalanche in scoring again, finishing sixth in the league with seventy-nine points. On March 9, 2002, he played in his 1,000th career game. The Avalanche once again reached the Western Conference Finals, but lost to the eventual Cup winning Detroit Red Wings. The following year Sakic appeared in only fifty-eight games, and finished with just fifty-eight points, the lowest total of his career.[17] He rebounded the following year, finishing third in the league with eighty-seven points. It also marked the first time since the 1993-94 season that his team did not win the division title, which was won by the Vancouver Canucks.
Sakic warming up before a game in 2007
Sakic warming up before a game in 2007

Following the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the Avalanche were forced to lose many of their key players in order to stay below the salary cap.[25] Even with the loss of teammates Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote, Sakic still helped the Avalanche get into the playoffs, where they eventually lost to the Anaheim Ducks in the conference semifinals. In June 2006, Sakic signed a one-year, $5.75 million deal to keep him with the Avalanche for the 2006-07 season.[26] Upon the retirement of Steve Yzerman a month later, on July 3, 2006, Sakic became the league leader for most NHL career points scored among active players.

Sakic had another strong season in the 2006-07. He scored his 600th career goal on February 15, 2007, against the Calgary Flames, becoming the seventeenth player in history to reach the milestone and third that year.[27] On the final day of the regular season, he scored his 100th point, reaching the milestone for the sixth time in his career.[5] At the same time, Sakic became the second-oldest NHL player to score 100 points in a season at age 37, alongside hockey legend Gordie Howe. Despite his efforts as well as a late season charge, Sakic and the Avalanche missed the playoffs for the first time in eleven years, finishing one point behind the eighth placed Calgary Flames.

In April 2007, Sakic signed on for a 19th NHL season with the Colorado Avalanche, signing a one-year deal for the 2007-08 season.[28] Sakic commented on the deal, saying "at this stage in my career, I prefer to do one-year deals as I evaluate my play year-to-year."[28] Upon signing Sakic to the deal, Avalanche General Manager Francois Giguere said, "Joe is the heart of this organization and his leadership and value to this team and especially our young players is unquestioned."[29] On May 1, the NHL announced that Sakic was named as one of the three finalists of the Lady Byng Trophy,[30] but it was eventually awarded to Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings. On October 7, 2007, he scored a goal and had an assist against the San Jose Sharks, moving past Phil Esposito into eighth place on the NHL career points list with 1,591.[31] Nineteen days later, Sakic scored a goal an assisted Ryan Smyth for an overtime game-winning goal against the Calgary Flames, reaching his 1600th point in the NHL.[32]

Joe Sakic at a Glance

Joseph Steven Sakic (;Emrick, Mike (2002). NHL pronunciation guide. Retrieved on 2007-09-20. born July 7, 1969 in Burnaby, British Columbia) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played his entire National Hockey League career with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. In his 20-year tenure, Sakic has won the Stanley Cup twice, various NHL trophies, and was voted into 13 NHL All-Star Games. Named captain of the team in 1992 (after serving as a co-captain in 1990-91), Sakic is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and one of the strongest team leade...

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