Joe (Burnaby Joe) Sakic was one of the finest hockey players ever developed in Burnaby and Canada.

He played minor hockey with Burnaby Minor Hockey Association and the Burnaby Winter Club. Sakic had an outstanding junior career with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (139GP, 138 goals, 155 assists and 293 points in the regular season; 11 goals and 24 points in 14 playoff games). He also helped Canada win a gold medal at the 1988 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Moscow.

Sakic was drafted in the first round, 15th overall, of the 1987 NHL entry draft by the Quebec Nordiques and began playing for them in 1988. After seven seasons in Quebec City, the Nords moved to Colorado where Sakic played another 13 seasons capturing two Stanley Cups (1996 and 2001). His final career tally was 1,378 games played, 625 goals, 1,016 assists and 1,641 points during the regular season which are all franchise records. In the playoffs, he scored 84 goals and 188 points in 172 games.

He won the Hart trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player inn 2001, the Conn Smythe trophy for being the MVP of the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL Players Association MVP award in 2001; the Lady Byng for sportsmanship in 2001 and the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2007 which recognized his charitable work and commitment to his community.

Internationally, Sakic helped Canada win a gold medal at the 1994 world men’s championship. After playing for Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Sakic was an assistant captain for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City where Canada won gold. He was named tournament MVP scoring four goals and three assists in six games. He also won a gold medal with Canada at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. He went on to serve as captain for Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Italy.

After his retirement, the Avs retired his No. 19 Jersey in October 2009 and then was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (2012) in his first year of eligibility. Two years later he went into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and in 2017 the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

In 2011, he joined the Avalanche management team. He was promoted to vice-president Hockey Operations two years later and general manager the year after that. In 2022, Colorado not only won the Stanley Cup but Sakic was chosen NHL general manager of the year. He was subsequently promoted to president but resume GM duties in the summer of 2026.