 In April 2007 , Sakic signed on for a 19th NHL season with the Colorado Avalanche , signing a one @-@ year deal for 2007 – 08 . Sakic commented on the deal , saying " at this stage in my career , I prefer to do one @-@ year deals as I evaluate my play year @-@ to @-@ year . " Upon signing Sakic to the deal , Avalanche General Manager François Giguère said , " Joe is the heart of this organization and his leadership and value to this team and especially our young players is unquestioned . " On October 7 , 2007 , he scored a goal and had an assist against the San Jose Sharks , moving past Phil Esposito into eighth place on the NHL career points list with 1 @,@ 591 . Nineteen days later , Sakic scored a goal and assisted Ryan Smyth for an overtime game @-@ winning goal against the Calgary Flames , reaching his 1,600th point in the NHL . On December 27 , 2007 , it was announced that Sakic underwent hernia surgery to accelerate the recovery of an injury that had forced him to miss the previous 12 games after a 232 consecutive games played streak . The operation caused him to miss a career @-@ high 38 games . He was activated off of the injured reserve on February 24 and played that night , scoring an assist . On March 22 , 2008 , Sakic recorded his 1,000th career assist against the Edmonton Oilers , becoming the 11th player in NHL history to reach this milestone . 
