What went wrong for Sakic in the 2000 playoffs?

[Steven Toast]

The Avs went on a long run to end the 99-00 season and lost in 7 in the conference finals. Joe Sakic, age 30, ended the playoffs with a very unimpressive 2-7-9 in 17 games. Sakic had just finished 8th in points in the regular season with 81. He would get 118 points the following season and won the Hart and Pearson, while also leading the NHL playoffs with 26 points en route to the Avs 2nd cup.

So why the huge dip in production for Sakic? And how big of a talking point was it at the time?

 

[JackSlater]

I'm not sure that I remember this correctly but... I think there was a point where his wife was sick and his play plummeted for a bit. Might be the 2000 playoffs.

 

[solidmotion]

i've often wondered too.

this article suggests it was just belfour, which doesn't hold water because his production was already down in the first two rounds: Playoffs 2000:Avs don't win without Sakic scoring

looking at his shot totals, especially in the first two rounds, might be an indicator that defences were shutting him down—he averaged around 4 shots per game in the regular season that year, less than 3 in the playoffs. would have to watch the games to know for sure.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

That was the year that Hartley asked Sakic to carry more of a defensive/checking burden than he had in prior years, including matching him up against Modano in that season's Western Conference finals. His usual linemates were Hejdjuk and Andreychuk (Forsberg played with Drury and Deadmarsh) and to my recollection that line just didn't click and wasn't able to generate sufficient offense. Sakic's shooting percentage was below 5% that playoff season as well, which was obviously abnormally low for him (it was ~12% in the regular season) and which the article linked above alludes to.

I can't remember if it was 1999 or 2000 when Sakic's wife was having health issues. Regardless, the 1999 and 2000 playoffs were relatively poor stretches for Sakic, and in my view its likely that Colorado wins another Stanley Cup if he had played closer to his capability during that time.

 

[The Panther]

It often seems like around 12 years into a career, forwards' production becomes less consistent. All the factors mentioned, above, were probably key, but there's also just mileage taking a toll. Maybe Sakic needed a psychological 're-set' with all that was going on in his life, plus feeling a bit of burn-out / fatigue for the first time.

 

[Crosby2010]

So someone can correct me here of course, because while I do remember something about a member of his family (his wife) possibly being ill, I may or may not be remembering correctly that he had an infant/new born child that wasn't doing well either. This can happen of course. Again, I am not sure 100%. But it did trigger some memories once it was mentioned about an unhealthy family member. I can remember J-S Giguere's new born son had some health issues during the 2007 Cup run. It didn't affect him of course as the Ducks won, but those are the things that could have.

It was weird to see that production from Sakic. That isn't like him at all. It's funny because there was something about the Avs in 1999 and 2000 that just made you think they weren't going to beat the Stars either way. They probably could have but Dallas at the time mastered the defensive game and clutch and grab era that slowed down a team like the Avs. It just never felt like the Avs would win even though both series went 7 games.