| | DENVER -- Joe Sakic may have the acumen of a sharpshooter
while firing a hockey puck but he's far from focused when it comes
to personal statistics.
|  | | Ever-humble Joe Sakic seems more surprised by his fast start than anyone. |
The Colorado Avalanche captain is off to the best start of his
NHL career since he came to league a dozen years ago, but he's the
last person who would know it.
"I am?" Sakic said Tuesday. "Well, I hope I can just keep it
going then."
Sakic had at least one point in each of the Avalanche's
first eight games, before he was blanked in Thursday night's 4-1 loss at Ottawa.
With three goals and eight assists, Sakic is tied for fourth
place with two other players in the NHL scoring race and tied for
third in the assists department.
It's Sakic's best start since 1988-89, when he delivered points
in the first 12 games while he was a 19-year-old sensation in a Quebec Nordiques uniform.
But Sakic doesn't make a big fuss about it.
"The points are going on the board, but that could easily
change," he said. "You could be doing the same thing a month from
now but the points aren't coming and everybody thinks you're brutal.
"So you just have to take everything in stride."
Sakic has been faced with added pressure in his recent performances because of center Peter Forsberg's absence.
Forsberg is skating with the team in noncontact drills as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, and he flew with the Avalanche on Tuesday to Montreal where the Avs beat the Canadiens 2-1.
But Forsberg still won't be able to play for at least another month and that keeps the pressure on Sakic and second-liner Adam Deadmarsh to excel in the middle. | |
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