Joe Sacco

Joe Sacco has represented the United States internationally as much as any hockey player, playing at the 1989 World Junior Championships, the 1992 Winter Olympics, and the World Championships in 1990-92, 1994, 1996 and 2002. Sacco played for Boston University from 1987-90, before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 1990-91 season. He played in the NHL from 1990-2003, playing with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, and Philadelphia Flyers, in addition to the Maple Leafs. He appeared in 738 NHL games, scoring 94 goals and 213 points. Although mostly a major league player, Sacco had a few brief stops in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing with the Newmarket Saints, St. John’s Maple Leafs, and the Philadelphia Phantoms. After he retired from playing, Sacco became a coach, starting with the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. In the summer of 2009, he was announced as the new head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, his first head job in the NHL. His younger brother, Dave Sacco, played for the US at the 1994 Winter Olympics and spent a few seasons in the NHL.