Joe Sakic's 2021-22 NHL season just got better.
After winning his third Stanley Cup last month with the Colorado Avalanche, Sakic was named general manager of the year during the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal this evening (July 7).
"Burnaby Joe" led the Avs to the championship by defeating the previous back-to-back champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, 4-2.
Sakic and his coaching staff compiled a team that finished 56-19-7 in regular-season play and swept two playoff series en route to the Stanley Cup.
He had also won the trophy with Colorado in 1996 and 2001 as a player.
This year's title was the 52-year-old's first as a general manager — eight years after he was named GM in 2014.
Sakic is also Colorado's executive vice president of hockey operations after assuming the role in 2013.
In 1996, Sakic was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs.
He was named the league MVP, the Hart Trophy winner, in 2001 by hockey writers and fellow players.
Sakic played 1,378 regular-season games in his career where he scored 625 goals and added 1,016 assists for 1,641 total points.
In the playoffs, the Burnaby legend played 172 games, scoring 84 goals and adding 104 assists for 188 points.
