"A handful of Joe Sakic's former Avalanche teammates attended his number retirement ceremony Thursday night, including Peter Forsberg, Pierre Turgeon, Shjon Podein, Curtis Leschyshyn and Alexei Gusarov.

Forsberg, who recently played three games for his hometown team in the Swedish Elite League to gauge his readiness for another possible NHL comeback, came over from Sweden. He wasn't made available to the media. Podein traveled in from Rochester, Minn. Turgeon, Leschyshyn, and Gusarov are Denver-area residents.

"I had a lot of smiles, some shivers, even some tears," said Leschyshyn, who played with Sakic for eight full seasons at Quebec and Colorado. "I was standing beside three of the kids I coach, and they were just in awe with what was going on.

"People lose perspective about what a great guy Joe is away from the game of hockey. The charity work and Joe being Joe, it's all quite emotional, that's for sure.""