"I just wanted to be a hockey player, and that's all I am."
The "role model" standard applied to pro sports is an anachronism. None of us watch the NHL to see great citizens.
We want to see great athletes. Lifestyle and personality are largely irrelevant. Games are won with talent and effort on the ice.
Besides, judging athletes as personalities is a mug's game.
A guy can sign autographs for the kids, support the local charity, have a great relationship with the media, and still be a first-rate jerk.
Or he can be surly, withdrawn, humorless, and still lead a perfectly decent life.
Too often, the personality game is twisted to suit whatever agenda is fashionable. It wasn't so long ago that plenty of folks thought Dany Heatley was a great guy. Now? Not so much.
Having said all that, we come to Joe Sakic, who announced his retirement Thursday after 20 NHL seasons.
Sakic is among the elite hockey players of the last two decades, and makes a solid case for a high ranking on the all-time list.
According to many tributes appearing in recent days, he's also a really great guy.
That wouldn't matter, except in Sakic's case all the talk about "class" and "dignity" rings true to how he played.
He had a way of going about his business that seemed to almost transcend his athletic gifts.
That quality shouldn't be over-romanticized: world-class talent, not world-class attitude, makes an athlete a star.
But it's inseparable from his towering legacy as a hockey player. You don't have to know the off-ice stories to appreciate it.
Setting aside the personal stuff, the now-former captain of the Colorado Avalanche still earns the athlete's ultimate compliment.
Through his talent and how he applied it, Joe Sakic brought out the very best in the game.
Photo: Joe Sakic at his retirement press conference (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Comments
One of the most classiest guys ever to play the game. He’s right up there with Steve Yzerman and Jean Beliveau.
What I appreciate the most about Sakic’s retirement announcement is that he didn’t follow Teemu Selanne’s example and announce that he will be playing his last season and thus get the accolades from fans all over the league.
Sakic, like Yzerman never craved nor sought attention, and that is what I call class.
NHL players, for the most part, show more class than players in any of the other major sports.
I hope the NHL will continue to develop more Joe Sakics, because that is how the league will continue to be the best professional sport in North America.
Interesting you should mention Steve Yzerman, Jerome. I was thinking of him when I wrote that article, and I bet a lot of people thought of him when hearing the news about Sakic.
In my lifetime, I can’t think of two more admirable players, not just in terms of skill, but in their whole approach to the game.
Which would you take if you could only have one of them on your team? I was thinking about that, too. But I couldn’t decide.
Nice piece on one of my favourite players, thanks. Wonder if he could offer some lessons in class to Avery, and modesty to Ovechkin. Truly a man who let his stick speak for him.
I have always been proud of that fact that hockey players as a whole are a cut above other sports’ stars when it comes to character and in your article you downplay that as if it isn’t important…I disagree with you…pro sports is about more than just athletic talent…talent without the character is empty and only superficially interesting. Kudos to Joe and all hockey players that make us proud on and off the ice.