Nashville, Tenn. – As the NHL’s leading scorer among active players, Joe Sakic has made a lot of favorable impressions during his 18-year NHL career, but Colorado coach Joel Quenneville feels this season is more special than most.
As Sakic moved into 10th place on the NHL’s all-time points list Monday with three assists against Nashville, Quenneville praised his center.
“Joe seems to keep moving up the ladder as far as his achievements and his point production,” Quenneville said. “I see Joe at a young age when I was with him 10 years ago. I don’t think he has ever played better than we have seen him this year, today.”
Sakic assisted on both of Wojtek Wolski’s goals Monday, and added another in the second period, winning a faceoff that led to a goal by Ossi Vaananen.
For his career, Sakic has 591 goals and 942 assists in 1,276 games.
“It’s very special to be included in that and just be around him and learn from him,” Wolski said. “So I am glad he got the milestone, and I am sure there are going to be many more ahead.”
Next ahead of Sakic on the points list is former Avalanche teammate Ray Bourque, who is ninth in the career list with 1,579.
Rookie makes debut
Defenseman Kyle Cumiskey, who was called up by the Avalanche on Thursday following a back injury to Patrice Brisebois, made his NHL debut against the Predators.
He logged 11:13 of ice time, including 2:09 on the power play, and blocked one shot. He also was in on Colorado’s first scoring play, giving him a plus-1 for the night.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Cumiskey said. “I was definitely nervous at first but I got used to it after a shift. So it was a lot of fun out there.”
The 20-year-old, who had four goals and 12 assists in 28 games with Albany before moving up, made his debut skating on the other side of the ice from former juniors teammate Shea Weber, who is now in his second season with the Predators.
