The Colorado Avalanche center silenced those doubts for the time being, leading Canada to its first gold medal in 50 years Sunday with a dominating performance in Canada's 5-2 win against the Americans at the E Center.

Sakic had two goals, including the eventual gold medal-clinching tally, and two assists as Canada's men's hockey team ended a half-century of disappointment in Olympic competition.

For that performance, as well as the way he dominated earlier Canadian games, Sakic was named Most Valuable Player of these Olympics by the attending media.

Eight months earlier, Sakic won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche after a 118-point season, just behind Jaromir Jagr for the League scoring lead. After the season and a 26-point playoff showing, Sakic was awarded the Hart Trophy, as the League's Most Valuable player, the Lester P. Pearson Award, as the players' choice for MVP, and the Lady Byng Trophy, as the NHL's most gentlemanly player.

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Even Sakic cannot believe the run he has had through the past eight months. Team USA's Ken Morrow, in 1980. remains the only player to win the Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup, with the Islanders, in the same year. But, Sakic came pretty close.

"To be able to win them both is amazing," said Sakic, who led Canada's scorers with seven points in six Olympic games. "As a kid, you play and you dream about the Stanley Cup. For international competition, though, this is where it's at and this is what everybody plays for. It is a tremendous feeling."

With the addition of Olympic gold and the tournament's MVP award, Sakic has as gaudy a resume as any player on the world hockey scene today.

Perhaps the only reason there is still an argument about Sakic's place in the game is his unwillingness to promote himself. A humble, self-effacing guy, Sakic deflects attention from himself as easily as he makes the jaw-dropping passes that define his game.

"He has that stoic way about him," said Team Canada teammate Steve Yzerman. "But, his skill level is the best in the League."

That's quite a compliment, considering the source. Yzerman, himself, is among the most skilled players in the game today.

But, he was not the only one raving about Yzerman after Sunday's game.

Both Team Canada coach Pat Quinn and Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky went out of their way to rave about Sakic's role -- both on and off the ice, in Canada's success.

"Sakic seemed to get better every shift out there," said Gretzky. "At the end of the game, it looked he could have skated another hour."

But, perhaps, as Canadians Gretzky and Quinn are biased toward their player -- the only Canadian named to the Olympic All-Star Team.

U.S. defenseman Chris Chelios: "Joe Sakic really stepped it up. There are guys on both teams that know what it takes to win, and he had a heck of a game right from the start."

So, let's ask an American. Team USA captain Chris Chelios was one of the primary players assigned to try to control Sakic. After the Game was over, Chelios could only shake his head and admit the obvious.

"They won [the gold] as a team, but sometimes it takes one individual," said Chelios. "Joe Sakic really stepped it up. There are guys on both teams that know what it takes to win, and he had a heck of a game right from the start."

Sakic set up Canada's second goal of the day with a sweet pass to Jarome Iginla on a 2-on-1 off the transition to send Canada into the locker room for the first intermission holding a 2-1 lead.

After Brian Rafalski tied the game less than six minutes into the second, Sakic put Canada ahead for good, drilling a shot from the point on a power-play through traffic and past Mike Richter. In the third period, Sakic started another transition break that ended in another Iginla goal.

To cap the scoring, Iginla sent Sakic in on a breakaway and he again beat Richter, the tournament's best goaltender.

"He's a great player, who has great hands," said Richter. "All their players were playing well and skating hard, but Joe just seems to know where to go to get in scoring position. Even if he is not in scoring position, he has a great sense of the net, so you have to honor him."

Honoring Sakic is just what everyone was busy doing Sunday afternoon.

"He made a great play on Iginla's goal at the slot on a 3-on-2, and when you are a goal scorer, the pucks seems to find a way to the net," said Chelios. "That's what it did for Joe. He's a great player and a great leader. I tip my hat to him and his teammates."