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Definition of a leader Blake: Sakic's injury was a lot worse than reported
DENVER (AP) -- The injury to Joe Sakic's shoulder during the Western Conference semifinals was worse than what the Avalanche captain said publicly, teammate Rob Blake said. Sakic missed Games 4 and 5 against the Los Angeles Kings. He came back for Game 6 but didn't take any faceoffs. "He probably would have missed a month if it was during the regular season," Blake said. "Not a lot of people understood what he had to go through to play through that and not let anything bother him. "He's the true leader of this team. He was hurt bad. I don't know if he'll mention it now, but if it was during the regular season, he wouldn't have been on the ice for a while." The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup on Saturday. Blake said Sakic never said a word to the players about his condition. "He kept everything between him and the trainers," he said. "The therapy he did was after practice. It wasn't around us. He didn't want anybody to know. No matter what happened the next game he played, he didn't want anybody to know what was going on." Sakic led all playoff scorers with 26 points on 13 goals and 13 assists. He would not elaborate Monday on his shoulder. "I'm not going to say anything now," he said. "It was fine." Sakic becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1. He could command a salary of about $10 million a year after a season in which he finished second in the NHL in scoring with 118 points. He is a finalist for the Hart (Most Valuable Player) and Lady Byng (sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct) trophies and the Selke Award (top defensive forward). He is the first player in 10 years to be a finalist for all three awards. The winners will be announced Thursday in Toronto. "It's going to be fun to get to go there with all the guys," Sakic said. "It's a great honor to be there, but you don't get there unless you're on a great team."
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