"It will be quite the spectacle: Joe Sakic, accepting the retirement of his number 19 to the rafters, then skating with a lit torch and passing it to Matt Duchene. How's that for symbolism?

No, that second part won't actually happen. But in a symbolic sense it will, when the Avalanche honors its franchise icon before tonight's season opener, then watches its 18-year-old center begin the enormous job of trying to fill Sakic's skates.

The Avalanche begins the post-Sakic era at 8 p.m. against the defending NHL Presidents' Trophy winner San Jose Sharks, preceded by ceremonies for the retired Avs captain starting at 6:45.

The Avs have invited all "vested" alumni — former Quebec/Colorado teammates with a minimum 80 games played — to attend the festivities. Former teammates such as Peter Forsberg and Mike Keane will be on hand, and it won't shock anybody if a Patrick Roy or Ray Bourque makes an appearance, although the Avs wouldn't disclose those expected to be on hand.

Avs defenseman Adam Foote will succeed Sakic as team captain, but as many or more eyes will be on Duchene to see how the youngster fares in his first NHL game.

"I'll have some butterflies, for sure. This is the real deal now," said Duchene, whose family will attend. "To be able to see Sakic and his number retired is going to be special for me and everybody else."

Despite what figures to be a memorable night, several hundred tickets remained for the game as of Wednesday afternoon. Some of the fan base may be wary about paying to see what was a last-place team in 2008-09 and has been predicted by some to finish that way again. But new Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said he can guarantee one thing: This will be a hard-working team that shouldn't need any Red Bull in their fluid bottles.

"I told the players we're looking for two things: effort and energy," said Sacco, who will coach his first NHL game tonight. "When you have those two things, it's

easy to get execution.""