Joe Sakic

Team captain Joe Sakic played 20 seasons for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League. The last year he donned an Avs uniform was the 2008-09 season in which he played only 15 games due to a debilitating back injury and freak snow blower accident. He scored 2 goals and dished out 10 assists in the 15 games he played. Joe announced his retirement on July 7, 2009. Sakic had also been sidelined in December of 2008 after surgery to correct a herniated disc in his back.ESPN.com: Colorado Avalanche's Joe Sakic Out 6 Weeks for Herniated Disc He then announced on April 10, 2009, that he would be out the rest of the season after having played in 44 games

Sakic was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada on July 7, 1969; a suburb of Vancouver. The son of Croatian immigrants, young Joe learned English as his second language (Serbo-Croatian was spoken in his home). As a result, he was a very soft-spoken youth, a trait he carried with him through to his hockey career.http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2009/07/joe-sakic-to-retire.html

He became a Quebec Nordique in 1987 when they drafted him in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft. He played 7 seasons in Quebec before the team relocated to Colorado and changed their name to the Avalanche. Sakic was one of the few players to spend his entire playing career for the same team.

During his career, Joe was selected to appear in 12 All Star games. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy for MVP in the playoffs for the 95-96 season, and in 2000-01 the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, the Bud Light Plus/Minus Award and the Lester B. Pearson Award.

In addition to these awards he was a recipient of a 2002 Winter Olympics gold medal in Hockey while playing for the Canadian national team.

His 625 goals and 1,641 points in 1,378 games place him 6th all time in NHL scoring history, trailing only Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux.http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2009/07/joe-sakic-to-retire.html

During the 1995-96 National Hockey League season, at the age of 26 Joe scored 51 goals and added 69 assists for 120 total points; leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 1st place finish in the National Hockey League's Pacific Division and winning the coveted Stanley Cup championship.

Seventeen of Joe's goals were scored on the power play and he another 6 while his team was short-handed. He also produced 7 game winners, and served only 44 minutes in the penalty box. For the season he was a plus 14.

On their way to the cup, they defeated the Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks.

While playing for the cup, Joe scored 18 goals and added 16 assists for 34 points in 22 games; leading the Avs in scoring. His awards for the 95-96 season include The Conn Smythe Trophy for Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup playoffs and being selected to play in the All Star game.http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/sakicjo01.html