LAS VEGAS — At least once a season when they played together, Joe Sakic and other Avalanche teammates would try to talk some sense into Peter Forsberg. Why did the Avs’ most skilled player think he also had to be the team’s toughest player?

“We’d tell him: ‘Peter, you don’t have to initiate all the time. Maybe you can just pick your spots a little more, maybe be a little smarter in that way,’ ” Sakic recalled Monday. “But that’s who Peter was. If he’d have changed who he was, he probably wouldn’t have been the same player. And he was a great one.”

The Hockey Hall of Fame recognized Forsberg as one of the all-time greats Monday by electing him and three others, including another former Av, defenseman Rob Blake. Sakic, a fellow Hall of Famer, played with both and knows he wouldn’t have two Stanley Cup rings without them by his side.

“Rob Blake, there was a fear factor on the ice at all times when he was out there,” Sakic said. “Guys knew if they had their head down for one second, they could get really crunched by Rob. And his slap shot made guys back off. When he was with us and we were on the power play, you definitely got a little more room out there, because guys were afraid of getting in the way of his slap shot.”

Forsberg, who retired from the Avs after an unsuccessful two-game comeback in 2011, formed a deadly 1-2 punch at center with Sakic. It was “heads we win, tails you lose” for the Avs when teams tried to pick which line to put their best checkers against.

PHOTOS: The Avs’ Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake elected to Hall of Fame

“One of the best 1-2 punches ever to play the game,” said former Av Dave Reid, a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup team with Forsberg and Blake.

Forsberg and Blake weren’t a bad combination, either.

“Peter was a power forward with the skills of an elite goal scorer and playmaker,” Reid said. “And Rob was the rare combination of an elite defenseman who had the skills of an elite offensive defenseman. It was a privilege to play with both.”

A first-round selection of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1991 NHL draft, Forsberg played 13 NHL seasons and was the NHL’s rookie of the year in 1995 with the Quebec Nordiques. A two-time Stanley Cup champion in 1996 and 2001 with Colorado, Forsberg won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2003, along with the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer. He won International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) gold medals in 1992 and 1998 and the Olympic gold medal in 1994 in Lillehammer.

“It’s been a good run, and I wouldn’t change places with anybody,” Forsberg said in a statement. “Joining Borje Salming and Mats Sundin in the Hall of Fame as the third Swedish member makes it especially gratifying for me.”

Blake played 20 NHL seasons with three NHL teams, winning the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001. He scored 40 or more points 12 times. He is a member of the IIHF’s elite Triple Gold Club for winning a Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal (2002 with Sakic for Canada) and the IIHF world championship.

“This is a tremendous honor,” Blake said in a statement. “I am fortunate to have been around the game of hockey and have it be a key part of my life for as long as I can remember.”

The other two players elected were Dominik Hasek and Mike Modano, with the late coach Pat Burns and referee Bill McCreary. Inductions are Nov. 17 in Toronto.

Hasek, a six-time Vezina Trophy winner, won one Stanley Cup as a starter with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002, then split time with Chris Osgood and became the backup in the playoffs for the 2008 title team. He came close to the Cup in 1999 with the Buffalo Sabres, only to be beaten by the Dallas Stars on Brett Hull’s overtime goal. Hasek’s best years came with the Sabres, when he had seven consecutive seasons with a save percentage of .930 or higher. He finished with 234 regular-season victories.

With 1,374 points over 21 seasons, Modano became the most prolific American-born scorer in NHL history.

Burns, who coached the New Jersey Devils to the 2003 Stanley Cup title, died of cancer at 58 in 2010.

“It’s great to see Peter and Rob get recognized, but it’s no surprise,” Sakic said. “Both were first-ballot players.”

PETER FORSBERG

Seasons with Colorado: 1995-2004, 2007-08, 2010-11

Highlights:

• Helped lead the Avalanche to Stanley Cup championships in 1996 and 2001.

• Won the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) in 1995 for Quebec, the Art Ross Trophy (led the league in scoring) in 2003 and the Hart Memorial Trophy (most valuable player) in 2003.

• Ranks fifth all time in franchise points with 755.

ROB BLAKE

Seasons with Colorado: 2001-06

Highlights:

• Was a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup team, scoring 19 points in 23 post-season games.

• Won the James Norris Trophy (top defensive player) 1998 when he was with the Los Angeles Kings.