A handful of Joe Sakic’s former Avalanche teammates attended his number retirement ceremony Thursday night, including Peter Forsberg, Pierre Turgeon, Shjon Podein, Curtis Leschyshyn and Alexei Gusarov.
Forsberg, who recently played three games for his hometown team in the Swedish Elite League to gauge his readiness for another possible NHL comeback, came over from Sweden. He wasn’t made available to the media. Podein traveled in from Rochester, Minn. Turgeon, Leschyshyn, and Gusarov are Denver-area residents.
“I had a lot of smiles, some shivers, even some tears,” said Leschyshyn, who played with Sakic for eight full seasons at Quebec and Colorado. “I was standing beside three of the kids I coach, and they were just in awe with what was going on.
“People lose perspective about what a great guy Joe is away from the game of hockey. The charity work and Joe being Joe, it’s all quite emotional, that’s for sure.”
Said Podein, renowned as the checking-line center who wouldn’t take off his uniform as the 2001 Stanley Cup celebration continued in LoDo: “I couldn’t stop smiling, because I was very blessed to get to know the Sakic family for so many years. The side that so many people got to see of him is as a great hockey player.
“He’s done so much more than so many other people, but when I think of Joseph, I think of what a great husband and father he is, and he’s one of those guys I try to emulate and be like when I’m at home. I was just to pleased to be here to see it.”
Turgeon, who played only two seasons with Sakic, but is 30th on the NHL’s all-time points list, said: “He’s Mr. Avalanche to me. Being with the same organization for 20 years, I don’t know if we’re going to see that again. The family man and person he is, he’s just first-class. And then what he did on the ice was unbelievable.”
