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Future Hall Of Famer Joe Sakic To Retire
by PuckStopsHere on 07/09/09 at 12:50 AM ET
Comments (7)
I like to write a career perspective when future Hall of Famers retire. Today Joe Sakic is expected to announce his retirement in a press conference in Denver. This retirement is one that I feel close to because I grew up near Joe Sakic and first met him (though I doubt he would remember) when I was a four or five year old child and Sakic was a slightly older child starring in Burnaby Minor Hockey.
Joe Sakic was born on July 7, 1969 in Burnaby, British Columbia. He grew up playing in the Burnaby Minor Hockey Program. He was first noticed by scouts in 1985/86 playing for the Burnaby Selects of the BC Amateur Hockey Association when he scored 156 points in 80 games. This was good enough to get him a three game tryout with the Lethbridge Broncos of the WHL. Lethbridge moved to Swift Current the next season and this is where Sakic became a junior star. In his first full junior season, Sakic scored 133 points in 72 games and was named to the WHL East Second Team All Star, WHL East Rookie of the Year and WHL East Player of the Year. This was good enough to get him selected by the Quebec Nordiques 15th overall in the 1987 entry draft.
It was at this point that an often repeated story at Burnaby North High School was born. One French teacher would tell every class of his that there once was a kid in his class who said he would be a professional hockey player and didn’t need to learn French. This kid was Joe Sakic and he was drafted by Quebec, the most French team in the NHL, thus proving that you never know when you will need to know French.
Sakic returned for a second year in Swift Current. He led the WHL in both goals and points (with 78 and 160 respectively). He made the WHL East First Team All Star and was named the WHL Player or the Year and the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year.
That was more than good enough to get Sakic and NHL job. His next season was played with the Quebec Nordiques in the NHL. He joined a team that would finish in last place, but had a strong rookie season with 62 points in 70 games. It was the next season where Sakic truly became a star. He led the Nordiques with 102 points and played in his first of 12 NHL All Star Games. Sakic quickly became the captain leader and star of the rising Quebec Nordiques. He scored well over a point per game annually and appeared in the All Star Game. At the end of the 1994/95 season the Nordiques moved to Denver, Colorado and became the Colorado Avalanche. This was a major change in Sakic’s career.
The Avs were ready to compete for the Stanley Cup. They added goaltender Patrick Roy in mid-season and became a top contender. They won the Stanley Cup in 1996 in their first playoff run in Denver and the first serious playoff run of Sakic’s career. Sakic led the playoffs in goals and points (with 18 and 34 respectively) and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. In the4 next season Colorado only made it to the semi-finals, but Sakic still managed to lead the playoffs in assists with 17. That summer (1997) Joe Sakic, a restricted free agent, signed an offer sheet with the New York Rangers. Colorado matched it, but it made Sakic one of the highest paid players in the NHL.
Sakic remained a star in Colorado and had the opportunity to play for Canada in the 1998 Olympics. After a couple years where some time was missed to injury, where Sakic scored better than a point per game but only played about 60 or 70 games, his best NHL season occurred. In 2000/01, Sakic scored 118 points. This was good enough for a Hart Trophy and Pearson Award as MVP and a Lady Byng Trophy as most sportsmanlike player. He tied for the league lead in +/- (with Patrik Elias of the New Jersey Devils) and made the NHL First Team All Star for the first time. In the playoffs, Colorado won their second Stanley Cup and Sakic led the way with 13 goals and 26 points (both of those figures led the NHL). In 2002, he won a gold medal in the Olympics with Team Canada and was named the MVP of the Olympic Tournament. Sakic made the First Team All Star again in 2002 and again in 2004. He remained the Avs captain and star for many years and scored a point per game or better annually. He had another Olympic appearance in 2006. In 2007/08, injuries started to get the better of him. He was limited to 44 games played, due largely to a hernia injury. He still managed 40 points in those games. Last season was even more injury prone. He was limited to only 15 games played (with 12 points). Sakic has decided that is enough and is retiring from a 21 year NHL career.
Joe Sakic retires with 625 career goals. This is good for 14th all time. He has 1016 assists. This places him 11th all time. That puts him eighth all time with 1641 career points. Those are numbers from a very good career.
The Joe Sakic retirement leaves 16 players who are still active that I consider Hall of Famers regardless of anything that happens in the future. Here is the list:
Rob Blake
Martin Brodeur
Chris Chelios
Sergei Fedorov
Peter Forsberg
Dominik Hasek
Jaromir Jagr
Nicklas Lidstrom
Mike Modano
Scott Niedermayer
Alexander Ovechkin
Chris Pronger
Mark Recchi
Teemu Selanne
Brendan Shanahan
Mats Sundin
I have added Hasek back into the list since he will be playing next season in the Czech Republic, thus returning to active status. I expect a few more retirements before the summer is through to reduce the size of this list a little bit.
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Comments
Yes. 2 time MVP. 4 time first team all star. 2 time Richard Trophy, 1 time Art Ross, Calder Trophy.
That’s already a Hall of Fame level of achievement.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 07/09/09 at 02:37 AM ET
If Ovie quit today, no chance he’d make the hall.
Posted by NHLJeff from Pens fan in Chicago, IL on 07/09/09 at 05:46 AM ET
If you wish to argue about Alexander Ovechkin, feel free to do it here.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 07/09/09 at 06:00 AM ET
Wow that’s pretty good for a guy that never made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. And those 219 goals are tied with other lock Hall of Famers like Jeff Friesen and Dirk Graham. I don’t have any doubts about his resume either! Can we claim he isn’t an elite player because he doesn’t have an elite goalie on his team?
Posted by John from Calgary on 07/09/09 at 07:53 AM ET
That’s already a Hall of Fame level of achievement.
What about the Cup? It doesn’t matter? I think none of them are already Hall of Famers, but I think the Stanley would put Malkin (or Crosby, on a stretch) on the same level of Ovechkin
Posted by Guilherme from Brazil on 07/09/09 at 11:52 AM ET
No Crosby or Iginla, but AO (who is essentially a flashier version of Kovalchuk) is on the list..interesting. Blake is also an interesting choice. He’s been a really good defenseman, but I’m not sure I’d put him in the great, hall of fame type of category. My only problem with AO or anyone as young is him on the list is that he’s way too young to be on any HOF list. I don’t care whether the player is AO, or Crosby or Lebron or Albert Pujols, four years in the league isn’t long enough make a HOF member, in any sport. Hell, sports history is littered with players that were great for a couple of years, then their career just plummeted due to injury or whatever life situation popped up. Let players have a little bit of a career first before you start polishing the HOF plaque.
Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 07/09/09 at 11:26 PM ET
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Ovechkin is a Hall of Famer don’t matter what happens in the future?
Posted by Guilherme from Brazil on 07/09/09 at 02:32 AM ET