Joe Sakic
Joe Sakic
Joseph Steven Sakicis a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played his entire 21-year National Hockey Leaguecareer with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. Named captain of the team in 1992, Sakic is regarded as one of the most capable team leaders in league history and was able to motivate his team to play at a winning level. Sakic led the Avalanche to Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001, being named the most valuable player of the...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth7 July 1969
CountryCanada
When you think of Canadian hockey, he was the greatest ever to play the game. When he talks, everybody listens. He has that much knowledge and respect, and whatever he has to say is important. It's not that we can't win without him, but we feel that much stronger with him.
We're right there with everybody else. The division's tight. We were hoping to get closer to Calgary (on Sunday), but it didn't work out. Guys have worked hard all year and we're right in it.
The regular season is over and we're all happy to be in this position and getting ready for the playoffs. This is when everybody wants to play. This is the fun time of the year, and we're excited about it.
I think everybody learned what it really takes.
We expect all of the acquisitions that we made to help our club, ... I expect us to be right up there with everybody else competing for the Stanley Cup.
Those are two big guys on our team. It's a tough loss, but I think everybody pulled together and played pretty well.
It was great to get on the ice and play a meaningful game. We still have some work to do. I think right now it was a pretty good game, but I think everybody has got to get used to how you are going to play with the new rules.
Everybody on our team supports Ted Saskin and Trevor Linden, there's no issue whatsoever. All the guys I talk to are happy with Ted. I can't believe this is even an issue. It's crazy. Here in Colorado, the focus is on training camp, where it should be.
That's great. I think everybody is looking forward to the rest and to start watching the other series. It's not going to matter who we play.
Obviously, there's a number of teams, six to eight teams, that probably spent more than other teams to keep their players. So, yeah, you definitely lose that. But I think everybody is on the same playing field, and I think as the years go down, (there will be) issues and uncertainty for everybody. There's so much player movement.
We're going to miss those guys tremendously, ... But the depth of our team is going to be pretty good.
We're facing adversity now, but it's better it be now than later. As the game went on, we did a better job keeping it together, but we're still not together.
We want to play well against Vancouver. We want to make sure we try and get a good win and have a good game there. We'll see how it plays out.
When you think of Canada, you think of hockey and you think of Wayne Gretzky.