#15 - Joe Sakic

Joe Sakic (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #15)

Adjusted Stats

1988-1989 Que          72 GP   19 goals   33 assists   52 points   0.73 PPG
1989-1990 Que          82 GP   34 goals   54 assists   87 points   1.06 PPG
1990-1991 Que          82 GP   44 goals   55 assists   99 points   1.21 PPG
1991-1992 Que          71 GP   27 goals   58 assists   85 points   1.20 PPG
1992-1993 Que          76 GP   40 goals   47 assists   87 points   1.14 PPG
1993-1994 Que          82 GP   26 goals   60 assists   85 points   1.04 PPG
1994-1995 Que          80 GP   34 goals   75 assists   109 points 1.36 PPG
1995-1996 Col*         82 GP   50 goals   67 assists   117 points 1.43 PPG
1996-1997 Col           65 GP   23 goals   55 assists   78 points   1.20 PPG
1997-1998 Col           64 GP   31 goals   42 assists   73 points   1.14 PPG
1998-1999 Col           73 GP   48 goals   64 assists   112 points 1.53 PPG
1999-2000 Col           60 GP   31 goals   59 assists   91 points   1.52 PPG
2000-2001 Col*         82 GP   60 goals   71 assists   132 points 1.61 PPG
2001-2002 Col           82 GP   31 goals   62 assists   93 points   1.13 PPG
2002-2003 Col           58 GP   30 goals   37 assists   67 points   1.16 PPG
2003-2004 Col           81 GP   39 goals   65 assists   104 points 1.28 PPG
2005-2006 Col           82 GP   33 goals   56 assists   89 points   1.08 PPG
2006-2007 Col           82 GP   38 goals   68 assists   107 points 1.30 PPG
2007-2008 Col           44 GP   15 goals   31 assists   45 points   1.03 PPG
2008-2009 Col           15 GP   2 goals     11 assists   13 points   0.86 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1992-1993 Que          6 GP     2 goals     2 assists     5 points     0.82 PPG
1994-1995 Que          6 GP     4 goals     1 assist      4 points     0.74 PPG
1995-1996 Col*         22 GP   17 goals   15 assists  32 points   1.48 PPG
1996-1997 Col           17 GP   8 goals     18 assists  26 points   1.54 PPG
1997-1998 Col           6 GP     2 goals     3 assists    6 points     0.93 PPG
1998-1999 Col           19 GP   7 goals     14 assists  21 points   1.10 PPG
1999-2000 Col           17 GP   2 goals     8 assists    11 points   0.64 PPG
2000-2001 Col*         21 GP   15 goals   15 assists  30 points   1.45 PPG
2001-2002 Col           21 GP   11 goals   12 assists  23 points   1.08 PPG
2002-2003 Col           7 GP     7 goals     4 assists    11 points   1.53 PPG
2003-2004 Col           11 GP   9 goals     6 assists    15 points   1.39 PPG
2005-2006 Col           9 GP     4 goals     5 assists    9 points     0.99 PPG
2007-2008 Col           10 GP   2 goals     8 assists    10 points   1.05 PPG

Career - 1415 GP, 655 goals, 1070 assists, 1724 points, 1.22 PPG
Career-Highs - 60 goals (00-01); 71 assists (00-01); 132 points (00-01); 1.61 PPG
Avg. (21 seasons) - 67 GP, 31 goals, 51 assists, 82 points, 1.22 PPG
Peak Avg. (94-02) - 74 GP, 39 goals, 62 assists, 101 points, 1.37 PPG, 2 Cups

Playoff Career - 172 GP, 90 goals, 111 assists, 203 points, 1.18 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 17 goals (95-96); 18 assists (96-97); 32 points (95-96); 1.54 PPG (96-97)

Accolades - MVP award, 1 Lady Byng, 1 Conn Smythe
All-Star Teams - 3-time 1st-team
2-time Stanley Cup Champion

Joe Sakic wasn't the best player I ever saw play, but he was my favourite player not named Martin Brodeur. There was a certain combination of calmness, class and excellence that Sakic brought to the table that was unlike everyone except the player and fellow center to which he is most often compared: Steve Yzerman. Yzerman and Sakic are essentially interchangeable, similar versions of the same player.

Later in his career, Yzerman was the superior defensive player, but Sakic at his prime might have been more of an offensive force. It's interesting looking at Sakic's career to see how consistent he is: except for his final season, in which injuries and age caught up to him, and his rookie year, Sakic never averaged less than a point a game in adjusted stats.

Sakic, as we will see with Jagr, Selanne and others who hit their prime in the mid-to-late 90s, actually benefits from the adjusted statistics significantly, and that is as it should be. The fact that Sakic's actual totals were more in the 80-to-90 point range for most of his seasons should be considered in the context that he was playing during the peak of the clutch-and-grab, shut-down, defensive-minded "trap" era. That's why Sakic's 2000-2001 season is so remarkable: he scored 118 points, Jagr scored 121, and after them the next closest was Patrik Elias with 96.

It's interesting to note that Sakic comes immediately after Beliveau and Esposito in my center rankings, because his career shares some traits with each. As with Beliveau, Sakic's team success directly corresponded to his individual play: his two best seasons also happen to be the ones in which the Colorado Avalanche won the Cup. And as with Esposito with Orr, a case can be made that Sakic's career, great as it was, only truly took off when Peter Forsberg arrived on the scene in 1994. But just as Esposito shouldn't be overshadowed, Sakic should be remembered for being part of an indelible 1-1A punch along with Peter the Great.

A testament to how great Sakic was: when the 2006 Canadian Olympic team was being announced, they decided to reveal the names in alphabetical order. The names were coming down and there were a few surprises, but then I noticed that they had gotten to Joe Thornton and Sakic hadn't yet been named. I remember going batshit crazy thinking "How the fuck could they have left Sakic off the team?!?!?!", but fortunately within a minute or so, they closed out the announcement with "And of course, our captain: Joe Sakic".