Joe Sakic

Joe Sakic was born on July 7, 1969 in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Sakic played his junior hockey with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and won the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year in 1988. He also won a gold medal with team Canada in the 1988 World Junior Championships. Sakic was the 2nd pick, 15th overall of the Quebec Nordiques in 1987. Even though the Nordiques struggled for most of Sakic's tenure, he quickly established himself as an offensive threat. He passed the 100 point mark in his second season and would continue to score at a blistering page through the 1990s. The Nordiques moved south to Denver in the 1995-96 season and became the Colorado Avalanche. Sakic's play continued to soar as the Avalanche through the 1996 playoffs. The Avalanche would win their first ever Stanley Cup that year and Joe Sakic was an integral part of that effort, scoring 34 points in 22 games and taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoff MVP.

Through the 1990s Sakic led his Avalanche team to become a perennial playoff contender. In a team stacked with talented players like Patrick Roy and Peter Forsberg, Sakic was the team captain and led them to their second Stanley Cup Championship in 2001. Sakic has been recognized for his scoring prowess and his sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct with the award of the Lady Byng trophy.

Here is a summary of Joe Sakic's NHL accomplishments;

Year    Team                 GP   G   A   Pts   Pim
1988-89 Quebec Nordiques     70  23  39    62    24
1989-90 Quebec Nordiques     80  39  63   102    27
1990-91 Quebec Nordiques     80  48  61   109    24
1991-92 Quebec Nordiques     69  29  65    94    20 
1992-93 Quebec Nordiques     78  48  57   105    40
1993-94 Quebec Nordiques     84  28  64    92    18 
1994-95 Quebec Nordiques     47  19  43    62    30 
1995-96 Colorado Avalanche   82  51  69   120    44
1996-97 Colorado Avalanche   65  22  52    74    34 
1997-98 Colorado Avalanche   64  27  36    63    50 
1998-99 Colorado Avalanche   73  41  55    96    29 
1999-00 Colorado Avalanche   60  28  53    81    28 
2000-01 Colorado Avalanche   82  54  64   118    30
2001-02 Colorado Avalanche   82  26  53    79    18 
2002-03 Colorado Avalanche   58  26  32    58    24 
2003-04 Colorado Avalanche   81  33  54    87    42 
2005-06 Colorado Avalanche   82  32  55    87    60 
NHL Totals                 1237 574 915  1489   542 



Trophies
Hart Memorial Trophy - 1 (2001)
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - 1 (2001)
Lester B Pearson Trophy - 1 (1995)


Championships
Stanley Cup - 2 (1996, 2001)

Team Pages:
Colorado Avalanche

Other Joe Sakic Resources
Joe Sakic Croatian Ancestry and Croatian Hockey Origins:
Croatian Parents - Father From Imotski and Mother From Lika
Croatian Citizenship by Descent - Path to Croatian Citizenship
Croatian Hockey Origins - Forerunner to Hockey in Zagreb Croatia
Sakic Croatian-American - Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony