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
Penalty kills are huge. It comes down to special teams every game, and those guys have been great all year.
We have to worry about a playoff spot. We've had a pretty good year, got a lot of wins. The way the game is being played now, especially with the shootouts, a lot of the teams out west are good teams. It makes for an exciting race.
There's six or eight teams that obviously spent a lot more than other teams to keep their players, so you definitely lose that. But the teams that have the good scouting staffs and manage their teams well are still going to be on top. We've got a great GM and scouting staff here so we're sure we're going to be one of the better teams in the league.
A lot of teams have lost different guys, ... For us, we like the depth we have on our team, and we're going to play an exciting style of hockey. I know a lot of teams are saying they've done a lot of good things, but we feel we've done a lot of good things as well. We signed a lot of quality people.
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 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.
When you think of Canada, you think of hockey and you think of Wayne Gretzky.
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.
To play in the Olympics, to play for your country, there's nothing like it. You love doing it and I'm looking forward to it again. We're all looking forward to trying to win another gold.
With the new rules, we think we can do that.
We know how tough the division's going to be. These are all four-point games, especially this time of year. I didn't realize what our record was in the Northwest, but as long as we keep winning and climbing that's the most important thing.