Joe Sakic

I'm leaving the game of hockey with nothing but great memories.

The benefit is competition, the thrill of playing in the Olympics, being an Olympian, playing against the best.

As a kid, you dream of winning the Stanley Cup. As you get older, you understand the importance of winning the Olympics.

To be honest, I don't care how it went in.

To play in the Olympics, to play for your country, there's nothing like it. You love doing it and I'm looking forward to it again. We're all looking forward to trying to win another gold.

The time of year I love the weather the most here is the fall, and I've never really gotten to experience the mountains and Denver in the fall because I was always playing and traveling.

You know what's good? Going on the ice and knowing that you don't have to skate when the whistle blows. All my life I've been the one skating.

Once you're in the game and it's a part of your life, you never want to leave it. But you have to be committed to be able to travel and do the things you need to do to be successful in whatever role you're doing.

I'm just happy I got a hole-in-one for the first time in my life.

Here in Denver, we want to thank Jeremy Jacobs for the way he runs his business. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten Ray Bourque and won a Stanley Cup.

If you keep performing, and if you stay healthy, you keep playing.

Obviously there are not too many people who get a chance to play in the Olympics in their hometown. That would be something special, but going into the summer you have to be realistic with yourself, and health-wise and motivation-wise you have to be willing to do what it takes.