HEJDUK HONORED
No. 23 raised to the rafters
Before his No. 23 Avalanche sweater was raised to the rafters Saturday, Milan Hejduk was presented with gifts and surprise visits from hockey players old and young.
Former linemates Peter Forsberg and Alex Tanguay traveled to Denver for the event and walked onto the Pepsi Center ice carrying the Stanley Cup, to commemorate the trophy they won with Hejduk in 2001. And later, Hejduk’s twin sons David and Marek skated to the Zamboni entrance to introduce the No. 23 banner along with the rest of the members of their triple-a team, the Colorado Thunderbirds’ 13under squad that Hedjuk serves as head coach.
Hejduk, 41, had no idea Forsberg and Tanguay and his sons’ teammates would be part of the program.
“They kind of kept me out of the loop on some things, and these two things were definitely a surprise,” he said. “It was really a special, special night for me.”
Hejduk had his parents from the Czech Republic in the audience and was introduced by former linemate and current Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic, who noted that Hejduk is the first Avs player to have his jersey retired after playing his entire career with the organization. In his prepared speech, Hejduk talked about entering the league in 1998 as a fourth-round draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques and scoring the first goal in Pepsi Center history when the building opened in 1999. He talked about the glory years of continually playing in the Western Conference Finals, about being named team captain in 2011 and the current Avalanche players he played with — defensemen Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson, goalie Semyon Varlamov and forward Gabe Landeskog, who succeeded him as captain before his final season in 2012-13.
Hejduk thanked his wife, Zlatuse, for her support throughout his career and her patience in waiting for him after games; Hejduk was typically the last player out of the locker room.
“The apple didn’t fall far from the tree,” Hejduk said, noting that his sons are usually the last ones out of the Thunderbirds’ locker room.
Milan and Zlatuse became American citizens a few years ago, and the family lives in Parker. Milan said he will continue coaching youth hockey and work with charities such as Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation, in which he is a board member.
“That was really awesome. Something I will remember forever,” Hejduk said in a post-event news conference. “It was well done by the Avs and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed everything about it. Now it’s going to be fun to come back to the building and see my jersey up there.”
Hejduk is the sixth Avalanche player to have his number retired, joining Sakic (19), Forsberg (21), goalie Patrick Roy (33) and defensemen Ray Bourque (77) and Adam Foote (52). Hejduk previously said that he’s thrilled to complete such a stout six-player “starting lineup.”
Hedjuk finished his 1,020-game NHL career with 375 goals and 805 points. He is the only player in club history to reach 1,000 games with the team. Sakic is the only other Avs player to play in 1,000 NHL games, but 508 of his 1,378 were with the Nordiques.