Colorado Avalanche Legends Participate in Charity Golf Event
Colorado Avalanche GM and retired superstar Joe Sakic hosted a fundraiser for Food Bank of the Rockies. The annual event provides aid to at-risk children.
Colorado Avalanche legends took to the golf course to raise money for Food Bank of the Rockies. Avs GM and former superstar Joe Sakic hosted his annual Joe Sakic Celebrity Golf Classic at Sanctuary Golf Course.
The golf course is in Sedalia, and it’s owned by RE/MAX founders Dave and Gail Liniger. Said course is devoted solely to hosting charity golf events. This year’s event marks the 22nd annual — and consecutive — event to raise money for Food Bank of the Rockies. Funds from the event have provided more than 21 million meals.
Sakic became involved with the Food Bank in 1998, just three years after the hockey franchise moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche. At that time, he started participating in the tournament.
Sakic talked to Colorado Avid Golfer last summer and said this of his participation:
“I did my homework, met the people and it was an easy decision to do the tournament. We’re all really privileged to lead the lives we do, and we need to do what we can to give back. Everybody’s really proud to help the kids who really need our help. They’re the future, and we know how important nutrition is.”
The charity golf tournament sells out every single year. Foursomes for the tournaments start at $6,000.
Today’s event started out with Marc Moser hosting a radio show before tee time:
Sakic himself addressed the media before tee time. Naturally, he talked about the charity and the event:
Oh, Joe. It’s been a while since we’ve heard him talk. Now, luckily, he also talked about a topic that we all selfishly want to know more about — the Mikko Rantanen contract situation. According to Mike Chambers, Sakic said he spoke with Rantanen (it sounds like an actual Joe to Mikko call), and both sides want a long-term deal.
Moving back to the golf tournament, I haven’t mentioned yet who else was in attendance. Not surprisingly, former Colorado Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles showed up. He lives in Vail and works as an analyst for Altitude TV on a semi-regular basis.
Also not surprisingly, Milan Hejduk was in attendance. He continues to reside in Colorado after having retired from the NHL in 2013. No telling if his $5.2 million house with a full ice rink is still on the market, though.
Here’s Hejduk:
Here’s Liles:
Let’s see, it seems there was one more notable… it was Foppa! Another of our retired superstars, Peter Forsberg, was also in attendance:
Mike Chambers talked to him, too:
I find it funny that the first thing he’s doing in this presser is chirping former teammate Joe Sakic about his golf game. Some things never change. I love how he also acknowledges that getting back together means he and Joe are reliving the golden days.
Also, let’s celebrate that Forsberg thinks the team looks good — maybe even for the next 10 years!
Here’s Foppa’s tee off:
In addition to the charity golf tournament, Sakic and his wife Debbie will host a gala dinner tomorrow to further raise funds for Food Bank of the Rockies. Between the two events, FBR can provide more than one million meals to children at-risk of hunger.
Colorado Avalanche training camp begins in one month. Rookie camp and the Rookie Faceoff begin in a couple weeks. Players are already securing ice time at Family Fun for informal practices. The season is nigh.