"The Iceman goeth. In Croatian the word pobjednik means "champion." In English the name Sakic stands for "champion." Gentleman Joe Sakic, champion, hockey player, humanitarian. Hockey offers the hard, cold statistics of goals, assists and points. Here are the soft, warm statistics of life about Citizen Sakic: Goals - Reached his only hockey goals, becoming a player, becoming a good teammate, becoming a champion. Assists - Raised funds to provide more than 7 million meals for Food Bank of the Rockies. Points - Won titles in the NHL, the Winter Olympics, the World Junior Championships, the World Cup of Hockey, the World Championships and, his first, the Canadian National Midget Championships. We're losing a winner. MVP. Most valuable pobjednik. Joe Sakic is a credit to his parents, his children, his wife, the Avalanche, the Nordiques, Canada, Colorado and the game he has played so well for so long. He has been a living legacy for the four Swift Current Broncos mates who died the night of Dec. 30, 1986, when the team bus skidded off an icy road on the way to a game. Years ago in the Vancouver, British Columbia, suburban home Sakic gave his parents, I talked with the Croatian immigrants about their famous son. "Joseph," his mother called him. "Joey," his father said, and added: "The family name is "Sackich." They couldn't teach him English - he spoke only Croatian as a small boy - but they taught him manners, class, a strong work ethic and how to dream. They had realized their own dream by escaping an oppressive authority. Even on that day, Joe seemed embarrassed when they said that as a kid smaller than the rest, he would come home after dominating a game and, rather than talk about his performance, would sit in the hallway polishing his skates, then go to his room and practice his English. He would idolize Wayne Gretzky, and soon enough Sakic would be considered the Next Great One. He didn't disappoint. Joe married his teenage sweetheart, Debbie, and the only surprise at the ceremony was that he said more words - "I do" - than he would for years in the NHL and actually included "I" in a sentence for one of the few times in his life. Truthfully, when Joe Sakic arrived in Denver in 1995, few here had any clue. "Joe Who?" When the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup that season, and Joe was named the playoffs' MVP and hoisted the trophy at City Hall, everybody knew who Joe was. The second time the Avalanche won the Cup and it was presented to Joe, in 2001, he eschewed the captain's tradition of skating with it around the rink. He immediately handed Lord Stanley's Chalice to Ray Bourque, who had toiled in Boston without a title. Joe was never me-first. He was humbled upon becoming the highest-paid player in the sport, humbled by all the personal awards, humbled by the No. 1 star of the game acknowledgements. He always has spoken softly and carried a big stick. There have been two other humbling moments in the superstar's career. In 1991, he became the firs