Colorado Avalanche Executive Vice President/GM Joe Sakic had quite a 53rd birthday on Thursday.
Sakic was honored as the winner of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year award at the first round of the NHL Draft in Montreal.
He was the architect of the Avs Stanley Cup winning team this season and beat out Julien BriseBois, the GM of the Stanley Cup runner-up Tampa Bay Lightning.
Not only did the Avs win the Stanley Cup, but Sakic's individual award complements the Norris Trophy that Cale Makar won as the top defenseman in the NHL.
Sakic was also busy on Thursday, trading three draft picks to the New York Rangers for goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
Here are Sakic's remarks as he accepted the award.