"Joe Sakic, who announced his retirement Thursday, served as the Avalanche captain for 13 consecutive seasons during the franchise's stay in Denver. Twelve years ago, the very real possibility loomed that the captain would take his equipment and leave town for good. On Aug. 6, 1997, the New York Rangers not only signed Sakic to a three-year, $21 million offer sheet, they structured the deal with the hope of making it impossible for the cash-strapped Ascent Entertainment ownership to match the deal and retain him under the NHL's unrestricted free agency system. The Avalanche, then still playing in the undersized McNichols Sports Arena and with the Pepsi Center groundbreaking still not scheduled, had a week to decide whether to match

the deal, or accept five first-round draft choices as compensation. Sakic was to get $15 million up front, then $2 million in each of the next three seasons. In fact, he was guaranteed to get that, whether it was from the Rangers or the Avalanche. Sakic's $7 million a year average was an increase of more than 100 percent from the $3.1 million he made in 1996-97. At the time, Rangers general manager Neil Smith and Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts in part were trying to soothe fans after beloved Rangers forward Mark Messier had signed a free-agent deal with the Vancouver Canucks. "If Mark were back, we would not have gone after Joe," Smith said at the time. "When Mark left, Joe was the one we wanted." On the day the offer-sheet news broke, Sakic said: "It's something I really didn't think about too much, but the offer came, and I'm pretty happy about it. I was stunned by the offer. . . . I know I'll be playing here in a place I love, or I'll be going to the great city of New York. I know I'll be going to training camp, and in one week I'll know where." Sakic said one of the attractions about possibly going to New York would be playing with Wayne Gretzky, then on the verge of his second season with the Rangers."