A tribute to Joe...

Since the 1992-93 season, Joe Sakic has been the Captain of the Avs/Nordiques franchise. He spent his whole career with this one franchise. He has been the heart and soul of the Avs ever since they became a team in 1995 and he has been a hero to many. Joe did so many things to help this franchise through the years. He helped bring hockey back to Colorado, and bring Colorado it's first professional championship. He helped someone to win his first cup after he had played 22 seasons in the NHL. Joe has been the only captain in Avs history and when the 09-10 season starts, there will be a new captain. Today, Joe announced his retirement from hockey.

Here are some of the major highlights of Joe's NHL career:

• June 13, 1987 - Joe was drafted 15th overall by the Quebec Nordiques.
  

• October 6, 1988 - Joe made his NHL debut and recorded his first career point.
  

• October 8, 1988 -Joe scored his first career goal in a 5-3 loss against the New Jersey Devils.
  

• October 5, 1989 - Joe played his first game wearing number 19 (the number he wore for the rest of his career).

• March 31, 1990 - Joe recorded his first 100 point season.

• 1992-93 season - Joe became the captain of the Nordiques.

• April 25, 1996 - Joe scored his first career playoff hat trick against the New York Rangers.

• June 10, 1996 - Joe wins his first Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy.
• March 14, 1997 - Joe scored his first regular season hat trick for the Avs.

• August 6, 1997 - Joe signed a three-year, $21 million offer sheet with the New York Rangers but the offer was matched by Colorado to keep Joe on the Avs.

• December 27, 1999 - Joe became the 56th player in NHL history to record 1,000 career points.

• June 9, 2001 - Joe wins his second Stanley Cup along with the Hart Trophy (awarded to most valuable player), the Lady Byng Trophy (the player who shows the most sportsmanship), the Lester B. Pearson Award (the NHL's most outstanding player during the regular season, and named to the all-star game.

• February 24, 2002 - Joe helps Team Canada to the gold medal and named tournament MVP.

• December 11, 2002 - Joe becomes the 31st player in NHL history to record 500 career goals.

• April 24, 2006 - Joe scored his 7th career overtime goal (NHL playoff record).

• October 25, 2006 - Joe becomes the 11th player in NHL history to record 1,500 career points.

• February 15, 2007 - Joe became the 17th player to record 600 career goals.

• October 23, 2008 - Joe scores his 625th goal, his final goal of his career.

• November 2, 2008 - Joe records his 1,641st career point, his final point of his career.

• November 28, 2008 - Joe appears in his final game before sitting out the rest of the season with a back injury. He played one shift of the game.
  

• July 9, 2009 - Joe announces his retirement from hockey.

As I said before, Joe has been a hero to many and has helped so many people. Here are some other things he has done:

In 2001, when the Avs won their second cup, Joe didn't take the victory lap around the rink with the Cup first like captains always do. Instead, Joe gave the Cup straight to Ray Bourque who had played 22 season in the NHL (20 and half seasons with the Bruins) and still looking for his first Stanley Cup victory. Joe gave the Cup to Ray who was crying with excitement and he took the first lap while Joe waited his turn.

Joe's first few seasons with the Nordiques, he was mentored by the great Peter Stastny. In 2006, Peter's son, Paul, was drafted by the Avs and Joe mentored him. Joe was one of Paul Stastny's heroes growing up and Joe helped him throughout the 3 years they got to play together.

Joe spent the last 2 seasons of his career with injuries that made him miss most of the season. 2 years ago, Joe had surgery for a sports hernia. Last season, he played a total of 15 games because of a herniated disc in his back and 3 broken fingers because of a snow blower incident. Joe was one of the many players on the Avs that were hurt last season.

The 2 main reasons why Joe is retiring;
1) He is still recovering from the injuries last season and he didn't want to risk getting hurt again.
2) Joe has 3 kids; Mitch, Chase, and Kamryn. Mitch is 12 and plays hockey. Chase and Kamryn are twins, 9 years old. Chase plays soccer and Kamryn does gymnastics. Joe wanted to be able to go to their sports games and be able to spend more time with them. (How sweet is that?!?!)

Joe's jersey is getting raised to the rafters the game opener of the 09-10 season. As long as we are able to get tickets, I will be at that game. It's going to be a very emotional time for the staff, the players, and the fans. Joe was loved so much in Colorado and it's going to be very sad to see him leave.

Joe Sakic
Forever our captain, #19