TORONTO -- Joe Sakic is now officially a New York Ranger.
The captain of the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche is headed to New York after receiving word from Colorado management that he had been signed by the New York Rangers, in a blockbuster deal. Sakic will be paid 80 million for four years, equalling out to 20 million a year. Even this dealing has surprised Joe.
|  | | A day after receiving the Lady Byng award, Joe Sakic is signed by the New York Rangers
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"I knew they were interested in me, but not this interested." Sakic said after speaking to reporters in a press conference held early Saturday morning.
Sakic will be the highest played player in the NHL next year as he begins his 4 year stint with the Rangers. Ron Low spoke about the trade and seemed like this is the first stepping stone to a new begining.
"Of course anytime you sign someone of Joe's caliber you know what your getting into. The expectation increases to the maximum and the skill level of the team is boosted. We are all very happy about this signing and it's a sign of things to come."
Sakic, 31, is the fourth player to captain his club to the
championship and win the Hart Trophy as league MVP in the same
season. Mark Messier (1990, Edmonton), Wayne Gretzky (1984, 1985,
1987, Edmonton) and Bobby Clarke (1975, Philadelphia) also did it.
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His Hart win was overwhelming. Sakic got 53 first-place votes
and 585 points. Runner-up Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins
got eight first-place votes and 272 points. Lemieux's teammate Jaromir Jagr fwas third.
This season, Sakic scored 118 points, including a league-high 46
on power plays, and served only 30 minutes in penalties while
playing all 82 regular season games.
"I've always tried to be consistent," he said. "This year
everything fell into place. The way the team played, it made all of
us look good. You only get to these events if you're on a solid,
quality team. To go all the way and win the Stanley Cup, that's all
we wanted.
Sakic was runner-up for the Lady Byng in 1992. He beat out
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and Washington
Capitals center Adam Oates for that award.
Buffalo's Dominik Hasek won the Vezina Trophy as outstanding
goaltender for the sixth time. The Czech goalie struggled through
the first portion of the season, then came on strong. He finished
with a 37-24-4 record, 2.11 goals-against average, .921 save
percentage and a league-leading 11 shutouts.
The other finalists in a poll of the league's 30 general
managers were New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and Philadelphia's Roman
Cechmanek.
Since Hasek, 36, first won the Vezina in 1994, the only other
goalies selected were Jim Carey (1996) and Olaf Kolzig (2000), both
of the Washington Capitals.
Only Jacques Plante with seven has won more Vezinas, but when
Plante played, the award went to the goalie who yielded the fewest
goals.
Lidstrom became the first European selected the league's best
defenseman.
Lidstrom, 31, of Sweden, led all defensemen in scoring with 71
points, including 15 goals. He'd finished second for the Norris
Trophy the three previous years.
The Norris, first awarded in 1954, had been won 40 times by
Canadians and seven times by Americans.
Colorado's Ray Bourque and New Jersey's Scott Stevens were the
other finalists.
San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who had a .915 save
percentage in 66 appearances with the Sharks, was chosen the top
rookie. Nabokov, 25, is the first goaltender to win the Calder
Trophy since New Jersey's Martin Brodeur in 1994.
The Russian edged Tampa Bay's Brad Richards and Ottawa's Martin
Havlat.
Bill Barber, who took over the Philadelphia Flyers last Dec. 10
after Craig Ramsay was fired, and led them to a 31-13-7-3 record in
54 games, was voted coach of the year, beating out Scotty Bowman of
Detroit and Ottawa's Jacques Martin, both previous winners.
When his name was announced, Barber looked around as if he
didn't believe he'd heard right.
"I'm obviously very honored and flattered to be here," Barber
said. "I never really expected this. It's a memorable moment for
me, especially since I'm just getting my feet wet at the NHL
level."
New Jersey's John Madden, in only his second full season in the
NHL, took the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward. Madden,
26, had a plus-24 rating and beat out Sakic and Dallas' Mike
Modano.
Forward Adam Graves of the New York Rangers received the Bill
Masterton Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to
hockey.
Sakic, Hasek, Lidstrom, Bourque, Jagr and Patrik Elias of the
Devils were voted first-team all-stars. The second team featured
Lemieux, Stevens, Cechmanek, Colorado's Rob Blake, Los Angeles' Luc
Robitaille and Florida's Pavel Bure.
The all-rookie squad had Nabokov, Havlat, Richards, Shane Willis
of Carolina, Lubomir Visnovsky of Los Angeles and Colin White of
New Jersey.
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