After 17 NHL seasons and multiple international tournaments, Vancouver Canucks superstars Henrik and Daniel Sedin are hanging up their skates. Here’s a look at some key moments in the twins’ remarkable careers:
DRAFT DAY DEALINGS
Vancouver general manager Brian Burke pulled off a masterstroke to get both identical twins at the 1999 NHL draft. Holding the third overall pick, he traded defenceman Bryan McCabe and a future first round pick to Chicago for the fourth overall section, then sent that to Tampa Bay with two lower picks for the first overall pick. Then he dealt the first pick plus a lower pick to Atlanta for the second overall pick, with an agreement that the Thrashers not to take one of the Sedins. That gave Burke the second and third picks, which he used to take Daniel then Henrik. Atlanta selected noted draft dud Patrick Stefan first overall.
TOP OF THE PODIUM
The Sedins did not break out as NHL scoring stars until after the 2004-05 lockout, and their first major success came at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, where they helped a loaded Swedish team that also had stars like Niklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel Alfredsson beat Finland in the final for the gold medal.
TAKING THE REINS
Early in their NHL careers, the Sedins took a back seat to established Vancouver stars like Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Trevor Linden. But as the older stars left the team or started falling off the game, the twins took over and became the faces of the team. The Sedins finished one and two in Canucks scoring every season from 2006-07 to 2015-16. Henrik has served as the Canucks’ captain and Daniel as an alternate captain at the start of the 2010-11 season.
LEADING THE LEAGUE
Henrik was the playmaker, Daniel the goal-scorer, and they took turns hauling in the hardware. In 2009-10, Henrik became the first Canuck to win the Art Ross as the NHL’s top scorer with 112 points and the first to win the Hart as most valuable player. Henrik passed Alex Ovechkin for the scoring lead with four assists, while Daniel had a hat trick, in a season-ending 7-3 win over Calgary. One season later, Daniel took the Art Ross with 104 points and was given the Ted Lindsay award as MVP as decided by his fellow players.
COMPETING FOR THE CUP
After helping Vancouver win the President’s Trophy for finishing first overall for the first time, the Canucks downed Chicago, Nashville and San Jose to reach the 2011 final. They were outscored 23-8 and lost in seven games to Boston. It was a quiet final for the Sedins, other than Daniel’s game-tying goal in a Game 2 win, but Henrik ended up second in playoff scoring with 22 points and Daniel tied for third with 20.
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