The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the organization will officially retire number 19 in honor of team captain Joe Sakic.
The club will raise Sakic’s number 19 in a special ceremony prior to the start of the club’s 2009-10 season opener (game date and time to be announced).
"It is appropriate and deserving that we launch the season by honoring Joe’s accomplishments," said Avalanche President Pierre Lacroix. "It will be a tremendous event for a very special person and hockey player. We can’t put into words what he meant to this franchise and to our hockey fans.
"Joe’s numbers and records speak for themselves. He’s been the face of the franchise for two complete decades and his impact on this team and this city cannot be overstated. By retiring number 19, we are honoring one of the finest professionals in the history of the National Hockey League and we are bidding farewell to one of the greatest individuals in pro sports."
Sakic’s 19 will be the third sweater number to be retired in the 14-year history of the Colorado Avalanche, joining Ray Bourque (77) and Patrick Roy (33). Sakic will be the seventh player in franchise history to have his sweater number retired, as the Quebec Nordiques retired the jerseys of Peter Stastny (26), Michel Goulet (16), Marc Tardif (8) and J.C. Tremblay (3).
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Hey look, Colorado is actually retiring a number that makes perfect sense for once!
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Jul 9, 2009 11:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Why would the others not make sense?
2008-2009 Avalanche: It's like watching a car crash.
by Drakenlot on Jul 9, 2009 11:44 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bourque
I think he’s talking about the retirement of #77.
by ShaneG on Jul 9, 2009 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I personally liked it.
He was a key part to Mission 16W. Not matter if was only in Avsland for 1.5 years.
And Roy was a no-brainer.
2008-2009 Avalanche: It's like watching a car crash.
by Drakenlot on Jul 9, 2009 12:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
So were Rob Blake, Alex Tanguay, and Chris Drury. Want to retire all of those numbers as well? No one on any other sports team that I can think of retired a player for less than Bourque’s impact. You don’t retire a guy’s number who played less than 1 1/2 years with the team.
The Avs also seem to jump the gun on these jersey retirements… they give them no thought at all.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Jul 9, 2009 12:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
You don’t retire a guy’s number who played less than 1 1/2 years with the team.
The Buffalo Sabres and Tim Horton would like to disagree.
Granted, very different circumstances, but the point remains.
by Afino on Jul 9, 2009 12:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
And if Ray Bourque had died while an Av, you’d have a point. (Isn’t Dan Snyder’s #37 also retired?)
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by Doogie2K on Jul 9, 2009 6:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
A Habs fan lamenting over the inclusion of too many number retirements has to be a tad funny, no? ;)
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by bkblades on Jul 9, 2009 4:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Every one of them was a Hall of Famer and, with the exception of Roy, a career Hab. Who would you dispute?
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)
by Doogie2K on Jul 9, 2009 6:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Harvey and Plante weren’t career Habs. ;)
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Jul 10, 2009 12:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
oh yeah, and neither was Big Bird. :)
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Jul 10, 2009 12:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Avs also seem to jump the gun on these jersey retirements… they give them no thought at all.
- 33 Patrick Roy,
- 19 Joe Sakic,
- 77 Ray Bourque,
- 99 Wayne Gretzky,
The numbers retired when the franchise was in Quebec – J. C. Tremblay’s #3, Marc Tardif’s #8, Michel Goulet’s #16 and Peter Stastny’s #26 – were entered back into circulation after the move to Colorado. Peter Statsny’s #26 is currently being worn by his son Paul.
Yeah, that list if full of guys who shouldn’t have had their numbers retired. Seriously, no thought whatsoever…
2008-2009 Colorado Avalanche: Dry Humping Mediocrity
by Mike @ MHH on Jul 10, 2009 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Roy's made perfect sense!
Bourque’s was questionable, I agree.
Our 2009-2010 Avs: The towel has been thrown into the rink.
by Bob in Boulder on Jul 9, 2009 11:59 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I don’t see it.
Patrick Roy’s number should have absolutely been retired by the Avs. Bourque is debatable.
by Afino on Jul 9, 2009 12:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Everyone has their own standards and their own franchise mythology/narrative, so I’ve never weighed in on any team’s decision — except Bourque’s. I wouldn’t even call it debatable; it was just tacky. To rush into that after a year-plus of renting?
I just … unless there’s a tragedy, I expect some minimum of longevity involved, particularly when the guy’s legend is built off two decades with another team.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
by Dominik on Jul 9, 2009 5:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bourque was tacky and silly, but the only team that has never done anything tacky is the team that has done nothing at all. It seems to be an error of too much enthusiasm. At least it provides a goofy topic of conversation.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 10, 2009 4:58 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
At least it provides a goofy topic of conversation.
And in this slow offseason, isn’t that all we ask for? :)
by Afino on Jul 10, 2009 8:16 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Also nice to see they are doing at the home opener. A game that would have likely been a sell out anyway. Too many times teams have these ceremonies as a way to fill the house.
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by Fauxrumors on Jul 9, 2009 12:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Just beat me to that comment, was going to say the same thing. The Aves are doing the right thing, which isn’t the most profitable thing. How often do we see that in today’s day and age?
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by Scotty Hockey on Jul 9, 2009 1:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Amen to that. Classy thing for the Avs to do for a classy player.
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by fetch9 on Jul 9, 2009 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Why, I’ve no idea what you might be referring to ;)
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
by Dominik on Jul 9, 2009 5:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think I mentioned this earlier, but I can’t wait to see this ceremony. Yeah, we’ve had plenty of number retirements recently (Anderson… Gartner?) But a player of Sakic’s stature is what these events were created for.
I envision Forsberg, Roy, Bourque and all the others on the ice, an electrified Pepsi Center, and a scintillating 3-1 loss by the Avs to kick off the season.
"Sweet Zarley Zalapski, Batman!"
by ZarleyZalapski on Jul 9, 2009 2:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Hejduk from Stastny, on the power play. Book it.
"Sweet Zarley Zalapski, Batman!"
by ZarleyZalapski on Jul 9, 2009 2:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ok, now I know your insane
Thinking they will actually do something on the PP.
So long Super Joe. In a class of your own in every sense of the word.
by Drakenlot on Jul 9, 2009 3:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
He has a point…
2008-2009 Colorado Avalanche: Dry Humping Mediocrity
by Mike @ MHH on Jul 10, 2009 10:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I envision Forsberg, Roy, Bourque and all the others on the ice, an electrified Pepsi Center, and a scintillating 3-1 loss by the Avs to kick off the season.
Just blame the ceremony for the loss. I think nearly every single time I’ve seen a team have some kind of ceremony before the game, they go out and play like poop. It seems to be a law of human hockey nature. :-)
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 10, 2009 4:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
What a Mickey Mouse organization
They’ll retire anyone’s number. This is worse than the Wendel Clark retirement.
by Godd Till on Jul 9, 2009 3:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Bourque deserved to have his jersey retired
Only because he brought the Stanley Cup back to Boston to show Bruins fans what the Cup actually looks like.
by Exit716 on Jul 9, 2009 11:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
That and he turned down the captaincy of the Avalanche when Joe offered it to him immediately after the trade.
2008-2009 Colorado Avalanche: Dry Humping Mediocrity
by Mike @ MHH on Jul 10, 2009 10:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bourque deserved to have his jersey retired
Agreed — in Boston!
It’s not my team and it matters not a bit — oh hell, it’s summer conversation — but the snap decision with #77 will always strike me as way over the top.
Imagine if Sakic had been traded to Carolina this past trade deadline and they won the Cup with him next year, then raised a #19 SAKIC banner in Raleigh. Or imagine if Modano were traded to Tampa Bay last year and they won the Cup with him next season, then retired #9 MODANO in Tampa.
Except for the fact Bourque hadn’t won a Cup before, that’s pretty much what happened: A player whose entire career was spent with one franchise moves as a rental to a team with a short history — but one which already has a championship banner in that short time — wins the team’s second Cup, has his number retired.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
by Dominik on Jul 10, 2009 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
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