Joe Sakic

Sakic: This is where he belongs. He assembled the team. When you think of Canada, you think of hockey and you think of Wayne Gretzky. This is where he should be.

Sakic: When you think of hockey, when you think of Canada, you think of Wayne Gretzky.

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

Sakic (On arriving in Italy to play in the Olympics): Today was just to get moving out there, get a little bit of a sweat, get rid a bit of the jet lag. We tried not to sleep today, we're trying to get adjusted as quickly as possible.

Sakic (On wearing the Canadian jersey at the Olympics): When I put the sweater on and see it ... it's hard to explain, really. It's something to be proud of and hopefully we'll succeed.

Sakic: It was great, because there had been so much pressure on us to win. It's something you'll always remember, getting the medals and hearing the anthem.

Sakic: He's put this team together and we're excited he's coming and that he'll be a part of that. I know people are trying to bring up, 'What's going on with Wayne?' ... It's not an issue.

Sakic: We've just got to keep building. We've got a good group of guys and we like our team, but everything is going to depend on the ending.

Sakic (On Guy Lafleur): It means a lot because as a kid you watched him in Montreal, doing his magic. I was fortunate to room with him on the road for the first couple of years I was in Quebec.

Sakic: It's a great honor, a privilege, and I'm looking forward to it. But to me it's not any extra pressure or anything. We're there to try and win a gold together.

Sakic: We're here in Turin to win Gold.

Joe (On Patrick Roy): When you think of Canadian hockey, he was the greatest ever to play the game. When he talks, everybody listens. He has that much knowledge and respect, and whatever he has to say is important. It's not that we can't win without him, but we feel that much stronger with him.

Sakic: I was surprised. I didn't see that coming. We're going to miss him. It was just a great treat every time you played Pittsburgh and watched Mario play. We're going to miss him as a player, but I'm sure he's going to be around the game.

Sakic (On Jose Theodore): He's been back a couple of times for visits since he left, but he was so pumped coming over on the charter. He's so excited. It's great to see.

Sakic: 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.

Sakic: We took a penalty, and that's it. I thought we should have had more than one point, but the guys worked hard. If we keep working like this, we're going to get our points.

Joe: 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. Other than that, I don't pay much attention to what he has to say.