The Historic Childhood & Career Story of Joe Sakic

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Tyler
September 15, 2022 (0:10)

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Selected with the 15th overall pick in the 1987 NHL Draft, Joe Sakic had his name called upon by the Colorado Avalanche organization, setting in-motion a hall of fame career, in every regard of the statement.

Sakic grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia and played his junior hockey in the WHL, with the Swift Current Broncos, where he scored 138 goals, 155 assists for 293 points, through 139 games, over three seasons of play, boasting a 2.11 points per game average throughout his entire junior career.

The eventual hall of famer played his rookie NHL season during the 1988-89 campaign, putting up 23 goals, 39 assists for 62 points, through 70 games played. Sakic received the honour of playing at the NHL allstar game, for his play during the first half of his rookie season. He had become part of an impressive roster of talent for the Quebec Nordiques, including the likes of Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote and many others.

The Quebec Nordiques relocated to Colorado ahead of the 1995-96 season, ultimately becoming the Colorado Avalanche.

Sakic holds the distinction of being part of an elite list of players, recognized as part of the tripe gold club, which includes an Olympic Gold Medal, a World Championship Gold Medal and a Stanley Cup ring. In 1991 and 1994, Sakic and his Canadian teammates won gold at the respective World Championship tournaments. Sakic then won an Olympic gold medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. The third and final piece of the triple gold club tri-fecta, is the Stanley Cup ring of course, which Sakic won in 1996 and 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche named Sakic team captain ahead of his 1990-91 campaign, after exploding during his sophomore season, scoring 39 goals, 63 assists for 102 points over 80 games played during the 1989-90 season.

After the 2008-09 regular season, Sakic retired from the NHL. He is the all time games played, goals, assists and points leader for the Nordique/Avalanche organization. The five-foot-eleven inch tall forward played 1,378 games over 20 NHL seasons, all with the same team. He scored 625 goals, 1,016 assists for 1,641 career points.

Sakic played 172 career NHL playoff games, scoring 84 goals, 104 assists for 188 points.

Take a bow for Joe Sakic, the Avalanche retired Sakic's number 19, ahead of their season opener for the 2009-10 season, on October 9, 2009.

He was inducted into the hockey hall of fame on November 12, 2012 alongside Mats Sundin, Adam Oates and Pavel Bure.

He has since held the role of vp of hockey operations and gm for the Colorado Avalanche, winning the Stanley Cup as a non-player in 2021-22.