Adjö

I remember when a pair of bobble-headed brothers were drafted second and third by the Vancouver Canucks. It was 1999. The wheeling and dealing done overnight by then-GM Brian Burke that enabled the team to nab both Daniel and Henrik Sedin in the first round was Herculean in hockey scope, and for the first few years appeared to have not been worth the effort. The wonder twins of the Swedish junior league took some time to find their rhythm in the NHL, but once they found it, stardom—if not the Stanley Cup—was inevitable.

Living on the west coast makes me a Vancouver fan by proximity. My feelings for the team have waxed and waned over the years. I really disliked them when Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison made up the top line, back when the Twedes, as Ter has called them, were still growing into their potential. The adulation press and populace showered on Roberto Luongo drove me nuts because whatever they saw in him completely eluded me. Yet while I made jokes about many of the players at any given time, I had personal favourites. I loved Ryan Kesler, for instance. And Kevin Bieksa. Alex Burrows was fun to watch, Mason Raymond was yummy, I adored Jarkko Ruutu, and none dares dispute St Trevor of Linden’s greatness. I can honestly say there have been stretches when I’ve wanted the team to do well (except against Philadelphia, of course) and times when I have been equally hostile toward them.

During those amusing and bemusing years, the Sedins quietly matured into superstars. They did it so quietly, in fact, that I can’t say precisely when they became notable. They were simply, suddenly, there. And they were doing magical things on the ice, things so magical that the term “Sedinery” was coined by one of the announcers. Despite their Swedishness and her Finnishness, Ter liked them early on, favouring Henrik over his younger brother, though how someone can prefer one identical twin over the other is a mystery.

They’ve traded scoring titles back and forth for years. Each has played 1000 games and racked up over 1000 points apiece. Between them, only a handful of games were missed due to injury, otherwise, they were present and accounted for on a stunningly regular basis. They made scoring stars out of so-so players. “Just stand by the net with your stick on the ice and wait for the pass,” was how one wit put it. The Hockey Hall of Fame awaits for sure. But:

Superior stats are one thing. Being a class act off the ice is more impressive, and these young men are classy in the truest sense of the word. They have grown into fine upstanding citizens, loyal to the team and the city they have made their home, to the families they started and the legacy they will leave behind—for they have played their final game in the NHL. Yup, the Sedins retired last night.

I might not have written this post, but their final home game was worth writing about for a number (pun intended—keep reading) of reasons. The Arizona Coyotes were in town. Neither team made it to the playoffs this year, so the game was worthless before last Monday. After the twins announced their retirement at the end of this season, ticket prices soared. On game night, the Rog was jammed to the rafters with fans determined to thank the Sedins for seventeen years of dedicated service to the team, to the game, and to the community. I imagine almost every TV in BC was tuned to Sportsnet Pacific. Ours certainly was.

And Arizona scored the first goal. Geez Louise. Their goalie looked to be on a mission from God. He made some dandy saves before Vancouver got on the board.

And how they got there is wild. Get this: Daniel Sedin wears number 22. Henrik wears 33. Half a minute into the second period, Henrik’s pass is tipped by Alex Edler onto Daniel’s stick and Daniel scores his 22^nd goal of the season. 22 at :33. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t have written it and hoped to have anyone believe it. The crowd goes wild—

—and Arizona scores again. And again. At the end of the second, the Coyotes are up 3 to 1.

Then the young ’Nucks go to work. Two more goals are scored and the game is tied going into overtime. Five minutes of 4 on 4. Arizona takes a penalty a minute in and on the power play, Daniel takes a pass from Henrik and scores the winner ... at 2:33. Honestly. The numerology was numbing. I suppose you could claim it was coincidental or of imagined significance, but I choose to believe that the energy of so many people wishing the Twedes so much goodwill created a weird synergy that resulted in those oddball occurrences. It was astonishing and uplifting and just plain fun.

And now it’s over ... for now. I’m sure their careers will continue in other forms. Their influence will continue in coaching or management or scouting or something hockey-related, so last night’s game in Edmonton was not good-bye to the Sedins. It was simply adjö.

* * *

On a sombre note, it was extremely saddening to learn that the final night of the Sedins on-ice careers was overshadowed by the tragedy of a crash involving a semi-truck and a bus transporting a junior B team to a game in Saskatchewan. Fifteen members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey organization were killed outright and fourteen remain in hospital, some in critical condition. At the time of this writing, the most poignant image from the national league games happened in Winnipeg, when the players on both teams—Jets and Chicago Black Hawks—stood shoulder to shoulder in a circle, alternating jerseys, at centre ice for a moment of silence on behalf of the victims and their families. Similar scenes were played in arenas throughout the league.

The hockey world is smaller, and the people involved in it are bigger, than you think.

With love,