Avalanche fans disappointed about the team’s first failure to make the playoffs can take solace in the following: Joe Sakic is likely to have his signature on a new contract with the team shortly.
“We should have something soon,” Sakic said.
Sakic confirmed he recently had talks, through agent Don Baizley, with Avalanche general manager Francois Giguere about a new deal. The Avalanche captain and all-time leading scorer will turn 38 in July, and saw the expiration of his one-year, $5.75 million contract Sunday night.
But Sakic has made it clear he has no ambition to explore the free- agent market, and wants to retire as an Avalanche. He had his highest-scoring season with the Avs since 2000-01, and his third-highest in a Colorado uniform.
Sakic said the Avs’ strong finish gives him extra incentive to return to the team.
“Guys are going to go into the summer knowing we have a real good team, and I think what we did will carry over to next season,” Sakic said. “I think we grew up as a team. It’s too bad it didn’t happen about a month ago. We’d probably be in the playoffs right now. But we showed a lot of pride, and got on a roll and it started snowballing. Guys really started believing in one another, and that’s going to carry over.”
Sakic played in all 82 games for the second straight season.
Footnotes
Avalanche television color analyst Peter McNab did yeoman duty Sunday. He started the day in Dallas, working the Stars-Blackhawks game for NBC, then caught a flight to Denver to work the Avs-Flames game. … The Avs sat defenseman Karlis Skrastins against the Flames. Skrastins has been playing hurt of late, with ankle and knee ailments. … The Flames’ Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regehr, Jeff Friesen and Daymond Langkow did not make the trip to Denver, with Calgary clinching the final playoff spot in the Western Conference on Saturday night.
