Sayonara, Joe Sakic

You know you're getting old when you get to the point in your life when it's time for Joe Sakic to retire.

The truth is that he should have retired last summer. It would have been perfect if the Sakic-Forsberg-Foote combination could have carried Lord Stanley one last time, but injuries erased any chance of that. Instead, Sakic's last game was a meaningless 2-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, a game in which Sakic's total ice time was only 28 seconds because he was forced to leave due to back problems.

Sakic left no stone unturned in his career. His accolades include:

- A Hart Trophy as league MVP (2001)

- A Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs (1996)

- 625 goals (14th all-time), 1016 assists (11th all-time), and 1641 points (8th all-time) in 1378 games (35th all-time)

- 84 playoff goals (7th all-time) and 188 playoff points (7th all-time)

- 8 playoff overtime goals (an NHL record)

- NHL All-Star Game MVP (2004)

- An Olympic Gold Medal (2002)

- Olympic MVP honors (2002)

- Two Stanley Cup Championships (1996, 2001)

One of my favorite Joe Sakic memories is when he handed the Cup off to Ray Bourque. It's the best Stanley Cup presentation moment in NHL history, and it took place because of the character of Joe Sakic.

The presser to announce the retirement is Thursday. Knowing humble Joe, I doubt it'll do his career any sort of justice.