Joe Sacco (ice hockey)
Joseph William Sacco ( born February 4, 1969 in Medford, Massachusetts ) is a retired American professional ice hockey player and current coach. Since July 2013 he is employed as an assistant coach of the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League. During his time as a player from 1987 to 2003 he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. His younger brother David was also active in the NHL.
- 4.1 As a player
- 4.2 As a coach
Career as a player
Joe Sacco has already been selected as a high school player in the NHL Entry Draft in 1987 in the fourth round as a total of 71 players from the Toronto Maple Leafs. After he spent three years active for the team of Boston University, was the aggressor in the 1990/91 season his debut in the National Hockey League for the Maple Leafs. In his rookie year he had five assists in 20 games, but was mainly for the former farm team of Canadians who Newmarket Saints of the American Hockey League on. After the links Sagittarius in the following two years, again between the NHL team the Leafs and their new AHL farm team St. had commuted John 's Maple Leafs, he was obliged in the NHL Expansion Draft in 1993 by the newly formed Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, where he in the following five seasons had a regular place.
On February 6, 1998 Sacco was transferred along with Jean -Jacques Daigneault and Mark Janssens in exchange for Travis Green, Doug Houda and Tony Tuzzolino to the New York Islanders, for a total of 98 games, he scored nine points scorer in the following one and a half years. He subsequently received as a free agent a contract with their league rivals Washington Capitals, for which he regularly stood until 2002 on the ice. After his contract end in the U.S. capital, the winger for half a year at first remained without a club before he January at the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL, and shortly thereafter with their partners, the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, signed. For the latter, he scored to end of the season in 38 games overall scorer six points, including a goal. Following this season Sacco finished after 16 years of his active career.
Internationally
For Team USA Sacco participated in the World Youth Championship in 1989 and the World Championships in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2002 in part. In addition, he was in the squad of the U.S. in the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville.
Career as a coach
In the season 2005/ 06, two years after retiring from ice hockey, Sacco was hired as assistant coach of the Lowell Lock Monsters, a farm team of the Colorado Avalanche. On May 7, 2007, after two years as an assistant, Sacco was named the head coach. He took over the Lake Erie Monsters, the new AHL team the Colorado Avalanche.
On June 4, 2009 a day after the Avalanche head coach Tony Granato was fired, Sacco was promoted and introduced as the new head coach of the Colorado for the 2009/10 season. His current assistants are the ex-player Sylvain Lefebvre, Steve Konowalchuk and Adam Dead Marsh. In the first season as head coach of the Avalanche succeeded Joe Sacco with the Avalanche to the playoffs after Colorado had occupied the last place in the Western Conference in the season before. He was nominated for the Jack Adams Award for this achievement, which is annually given to the best coaches in the NHL. Sacco was awarded the third best coach in the NHL, the trophy won the coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, Dave Tippett. In the following three seasons with the Avalanche Sacco missed the play-offs. After Colorado 2012/13 finished last in the Western Conference at the end of the NHL season, he was removed from the head coaching position on April 28, 2013. A few days earlier, he was appointed head coach of the U.S. national team - after he had worked as an assistant coach of the selection in 2009 and 2010 - and won with this at the World Cup 2013 the bronze medal.
In July 2013 Sacco was hired in the capacity as assistant coach of the Buffalo Sabres.