Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog will never forget Sept. 4, 2012, the day he was summoned to the Pepsi Center to meet with then-coach Joe Sacco and then-captain Milan Hejduk.
At age 19, Landeskog became the youngest captain in NHL history, replacing the 36-year-old Hejduk. Hejduk went on to play the final year of his 14-year NHL career in the lockout-shortened season of 2012-13.
It was because of that meeting, when Hejduk graciously concurred with his coach to hand off the C, that Landeskog will have fond memories of what unfolds Saturday night, when Hejduk has his jersey retired in a pregame ceremony at the Pepsi Center before the Avs play Minnesota.