"In 1988 at age 18, Joe Sakic concluded a 160-point season for the Swift Current Broncos. It was the last time he played in the world's hockey shadows. Sakic went directly from the Western Hockey League to the NHL's Quebec Nordiques, a jump forecasted by those he played for as a teenager. Sakic's long hockey road is about to come to an end, as two sources close to him have confirmed he will announce his retirement from the Avalanche on Thursday afternoon. Lorne Frey, who was the assistant coach and general manager of Swift Current when Sakic played for the Broncos from 1986-88, said Super Joe was a super kid. "When we initially saw him, he participated in an under-17 camp in Camrose, Alberta, and when I came back I said, 'He's a pretty good player.' As training camp got going and we got to see more of him, I said, 'He's a really good player.' And then early in the year I said he's a special player. Obviously, the next year he was Canadian major-junior player of the year. After that, we knew his chances to be a pro was going to be pretty good.""