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Avalanche teammates want Sakic back

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 2, 2008 at 3:41 p.m.

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If his teammates have any say in the matter, Joe Sakic will be back with the Avalanche for his 20th NHL season.

Sakic turns 39 on July 7, six days after he would be eligible for unrestricted free agency. Not that the longtime captain is interested in playing anywhere else; he’ll either sign another one-year deal with the Avalanche or retire.

“I’d like to see him back,” defenseman Adam Foote said. “He makes your life a lot easier and he’s a great player and a great guy to be around. I’ve gotten a chance to play with one of the best. I love it. I haven’t heard anything that he’s not coming

back. He’s a true winner and a true professional.”

Forward Ian Laperriere echoed those sentiments.

“I hope he’s not done,” he said. “He’s a heck of a player and heck of a person. Hopefully he’s going to keep playing, but he’s the only person that knows.”

Sakic was the team’s top scorer in the playoffs with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 10 games. His two assists in Thursday’s 8-2 loss to Detroit gave him 188 career playoff points, tying him with Doug Gilmour for seventh place on the all-time list.

Sakic signed a one-year, $6.75 million contract last season one day after the Avalanche season ended without a playoff berth.

“I’ve said every year, I’ve got to evaluate every year,” said Sakic, who missed 38 games to recover from a groin injury and hernia surgery.

“It was frustrating with the injury and coming back. (The future) is something you’ve got to take your time and think about.”

Sakic was the Avalanche’s fifth-leading scorer in the regular season with 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) in 44 games.

Coach Joel Quenneville said he didn’t know what the future holds for Sakic or any other players whose contracts will expire.

“We’ll get to visit with everybody (today),” Quenneville said. “There’s no indication going into that to lead me to think one way or the other. All that stuff will be sorted out and discussed and visited.”

No regrets

Foote has no regrets about the Feb. 25 trade from Columbus that brought him back to Denver and he’s hopeful of staying with the Avalanche.

“Definitely. Yeah, it would be nice,” said Foote, 36, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency July 1.

Signing Foote would seem to be a no-brainer since the Avalanche parted with this year’s first-round draft pick to get him, but three other defensemen – John-Michael Liles, Kurt Sauer and Jeff Finger – also could become unrestricted free agents.

Four defensemen – Brett Clark, Scott Hannan, Jordan Leopold and Ruslan Salei – are under contract at least through next season.

Playing hurt

As if the Avalanche lineup wasn’t depleted enough for Game 4, the team revealed Friday that Laperriere and Scott Hannan each played with a broken bone in a foot.

Paul Stastny was scratched after suffering a partially torn medial collateral knee ligament in a collision with Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk in Game 3.

“ ‘Footie’ sidestepped him and I was backchecking and we kind of ran into each other and I got the worst end of the deal,” Stastny said.

“It’ll be a couple of weeks of rehab and hopefully in about a month I’ll have full strength back.”

Wojtek Wolski also was hurt in a freak collision. He suffered five broken ribs in Game 1 when 220-pound Johan Franzen fell on him after the Red Wings’ forward was checked by Avalanche defenseman Ruslan Salei.

'Frustrating' season

Ryan Smyth expected a better ending after signing a five-year, $31.25 million contract last summer as a free agent.

Injuries limited him to 55 regular-season games and 14 goals, and a broken foot sidelined him for the final two games with Detroit. He suffered the injury in Game 2 while blocking a Brian Rafalski slap shot.

Smyth, who had two goals and three assists in eight playoff games, described his first season in Colorado as “very frustrating.”

“Whenever I felt that I started to get going, an injury came – concussion, shoulder, broken foot,” he said.

He said it

“You have to take the praise on the good days, and there are bad days where you have to accept that you failed.” – Foote, on the Red Wings’ four-game sweep.

Comments

  • May 2, 2008

    6:09 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    SDWingNut writes:

    If only some of the Avs fans could accept being soundly defeated like Sakic, Foote, and others - like true professionals and warriors with class. From the heart, I salute you guys. Go Wings!

  • May 2, 2008

    10:58 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    coastiehero writes:

    I seriously hope that Joe Sakic does come back and play at least
    one more year because he is truly one of the best to play the
    game and is a real gentleman and ambassador of the game. I hope
    that Forsberg and Foote also come back and that they can get
    a great goaltender in the off-season to compete against the
    elite teams in the western conference. Theodore has been good
    but he is not a Patrick Roy by any means. Budaj had a great
    run last year but he did not look that great this year.
    I think that Coach Joel Quenneville will be able to get the
    team past the second round if he has a team that is willing to
    play defense and is of course healthy throughout.

    The Red Wings played a great series and my hat is off to them
    this year, but I hope that we can get a chance to have a
    rematch in the next couple of years to prove that we do
    belong in the upper echelon of the western conference. We also
    need a chance for redemption/revenge.

  • May 3, 2008

    7:17 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    GJrodburner writes:

    SDWingnut all that I have seen and read about us "Avalanche" fans, wherever you've posted on our blog pages, I have had to read your tripe about how the Aves fan didn't/couldn't accept the defeat with class. Maybe the picture in the mirror is that you can't win with it either.

    Regardless of the age of some of the more deviant posts by "sean", "wingnut1967" and other Detroit blow-aves, or avessuck posers, there is no way to respect the 'wings as a team because of their fans. The Detroit Redwings as a franchise and as a team are to be commended. You and the other 'wings fans...respect will never come your way. There is a reason for that. Respect has to be earned, never given, and it can't be imposed either. As great of a team as this years Redwings hockey club is, the detraction at the fan level will be that they are no better than their fans. Even if that cuts both ways in your esteemed opinion, the wash is that you still can't win without running your mouth like a nickel whore and the fleets in!

    Great concept from the front office with Ken Holland and that is transposed out on the ice with the Swedish connection that the team has in scouting. Even better is the fact that the 'wings can parlay that into wins with Mike Babcock, who I find to be very much like Scotty Bowman in his demeanor and approach to players during the game and after the game. Still, the missing ingredient would be the 'wings fan. Pushing your banter out here on the blogs is well within the total scope of being rivals, but if the truth be told all you were really pushing was fecal matter. You as a 'wings fan just can't walk away with a win. As fans you can't even talk hockey. You can talk about how every one tries to downplay the 'wings in this series because of the injuries. Truth be told, our team did play below our standards due to them. Can't help it. You can't win in hockey with just your plow-horses. The
    'wings couldn't do it in the playoffs either. The regular season is way different than the playoffs. It's the last unspoken truth in all of pro sports, but you can't win without your race-horses. Can it be done? Once in a blue moon during the playoffs. In hockey you've got 16W's to pull out, and that ain't going to be easy with all hands on deck, let alone the trifecta of winning the west and pulling the quinella by winning the Cup. Wings were the better team this time around, but not by a long shot was that accomplished without some heavy shots to our roster through injuries.

    Try talking "hockey", just once! Nothing I'd like to do more than to discuss with a knowledgeable 'wings fan about the 'wings and how they play.

  • May 3, 2008

    11:18 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    discer writes:

    Wearing an Av's sweater at a red wings game is akin to wearing a Bronco's jersey in oakland. Too many idiots in both places and it's just to risky!
    Following up on what GJrodburner said the idiotic behavior of the transplanted red wing fans or whatever (three time losers with one way bus tickets) they call themselves in Denver at the Pepsi Center only makes you despise them even more.
    Sort of like the Red Sox fan who said it was better to sweep the Rockies on their home field. What a bunch of myopic morons!
    Great post GJrodburner! I know what GJ stands for!

  • May 3, 2008

    2:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    xtofer writes:

    Wings fans have such short memories---talk about hubris. Before last year, the President's trophy winners couldn't even get out of the first round... including being swept by the Ducks.

    With all the injuries they had, the Avs were like an AHL team out there. Let's take out Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Franzen and see how far the Wings go.

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