Hockey center Joe Sakic got his start on the ice with the Burnaby BC Selects of the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association during the 1985-1986 season, but also suited up for three games with the Lethbridge Broncos of the Western Hockey League. When they became the Swift Current Broncos in 1986 he spent two full years with the squad and earned the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 1987 and MVP honors, the Bob Clarke Trophy as top scorer, and the Canada Major Junior Player of the Year Award in 1988. Having been drafted by the National Hockey League’s Quebec Nordiques in 1987, he made his league debut in 1988 and, by 1991, he was co-captain of the team, leading them during all home games. He also made his international debut in 1988 by winning a gold medal at the 1988 World Junior Championships, and followed it up with a silver medal at the 1991 World Championships. He assumed full captainship in 1993 and remained in that position when the squad became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. Prior to the switchover, he earned a gold medal at the 1994 World Championships.
In their first season as the Avalanche, the team won the 1996 Stanley Cup Championship and Sakic was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He nearly left for the NHL’s New York Rangers in 1997, but stuck with the team and competed for Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics, scoring one goal in five games, but failing to reach the podium. It was 2001 that was his most successful year with the Avalanche, as he won not only a second Stanley Cup Championship, but the Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as most sportsmanlike player, and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league’s most outstanding player as well. He shone again the following year at the 2002 Winter Olympics, scoring four goals in six matches and taking home one of Canada’s first gold medals in Olympic ice hockey since 1952. After failing to earn a medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics as team captain, scoring one goal in six games, and with the weight of many injuries wearing down on him, he retired in 2009 and the team honored him by retiring his number (19) soon thereafter. Off the ice a street in Burnaby, British Columbia was named in his honor and he was recognized for his extensive charity work with the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2007.
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