Denver, Colorado: Two-time Stanley Cup winner Joe Sakic retired on Thursday after 20 glorious seasons with the same National Hockey League franchise.
The 40-year-old Sakic was the Colorado Avalanche’s long-time captain despite his soft-spoken style in the dressing room. But Sakic was a fierce competitor on the ice and in a sometimes violent sport he exemplified the meaning of sportsmanship.
“After having the privilege of playing for 20 years, I’m leaving the game of hockey with nothing but great memories and a sense of accomplishment,” said Sakic on Thursday. “The game has given me more than I ever dreamed of, and for that I am truly grateful.”
A future Hall-of-Famer, Sakic played his entire career with the same organisation beginning with the Quebec Nordiques in the 1988-89 season and then moving with the team to Colorado. The 13-time all-star is the franchise’s all-time leader in goals (625), assists (1,016) and points (1,641).
“I am going to miss my teammates,” Sakic said. “And all of the teams I played on. I never had a bad teammate in 20 years.”
Sakic was a member of the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos when their bus crashed on an icy highway in bad weather in the Canadian prairies in December 1986.
The crash killed four players, top scorers Trent Kresse and Scott Kruger, tough guy Chris Mantyka and promising rookie Brent Ruff on a team that was led by rising stars Sakic and his linemate Sheldon Kennedy.
Sakic escaped serious injury as he and his best friend and teammate, Dan Lambert, were sitting closer to the front of the bus. The four players who died were playing cards in the back of the bus. Years later the then-Broncos head coach Graham James was convicted of sexual abuse of Kennedy during their time together in Swift Current and sentenced to three years in jail.
To this day, Sakic declines to discuss anything to do with the bus crash. Sakic, known as Burnaby Joe after his hometown in British Columbia, Canada, accomplished the rare feat of playing two decades with the same organisation.
A first-round draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques back in 1987 he recorded nine seasons of 30-or-more goals and six years of 100-or-more points. - Reuters |
