THE CRAWL TO 1,000
Henrik Sedin needs just two points to reach the points milestone, but don’t hold your breath
The guy who just beat him to 1,000 points is Alex Ovechkin and the guy right behind is Sidney Crosby, and this says everything about the era in which Henrik Sedin has played and flourished.
The Vancouver Canuck centre has inched within two points of 1,000 in the National Hockey League and has a chance to reach that milestone, as Ovechkin did last week, as Crosby will do soon, when he plays tonight against the Nashville Predators.
“I know Daniel is really tired of looking at the Jumbotron after every point I score,” Henrik said of his linemate and brother, who trails him by 31 points. “I think he’s glad it’s going to be over with soon. He’s like, ‘Enough of this; they’ve been counting down since October. It’s too much.’ ”
Yes, the counting isn’t as rapid as it once was.
Seven seasons removed from his NHL scoring title, two points for Hank Sedin is no longer just a good period. He went a whole week without a point before registering an assist Thursday in Philadelphia and another Sunday against New Jersey, both extra-time losses for the Canucks.
But while the 36-year-old isn’t the scorer he was, he remains by NHL standards an excellent offensive player whose greatest fault is that he is aging like the rest of us, although some are disinclined to grant him this measure of mortality.
Worse than that, a kind of hostility spills towards the Sedins at times for the Canuck organization’s failure to adequately plan for their replacements — like it’s their fault that Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews don’t play here.
Maybe they are to blame a little because the Sedins drove the most successful period in Canuck history — a span of 12 seasons when Vancouver missed the playoffs only twice, won seven division titles, a pair of Presidents’ Trophies and should have won the 2011 Stanley Cup.
Since the Sedins made the NHL as 20-year-olds from Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, in 2000, just five players have amassed more points and only San Jose Shark Joe Thornton has set up more goals than Henrik, whose assist against the Devils was his 767th.
In the context of his place in Canuck history, consider this: it was nearly four years ago that Sedin passed Markus Naslund to become the leading scorer in franchise history.
“We’ve been in the same city and the same organization a long time; I think maybe that’s the proudest part of this,” Henrik said during a recent moment of reflection. “We’ve been able to play in a hockey market and stay in it a long time without getting caught up in all the ups and downs.
“I’ve felt fairly good (this season). My body feels good every night. I don’t feel tired. People think we’re slow, but I don’t think we’re any slower now than we were back in the day. You’ve got to remember, too, when we were putting up our best points, we had the best team in the NHL around us. That’s a big difference. But, again, to see how this team is growing and people are getting better, that’s as enjoyable as those years.”
Sedin is on pace for 51 points this season, which would be his lowest per-game scoring clip since 2003-04 — two years before Alain Vigneault became coach and elevated the twins to the Canucks’ first line and top power play.
They’re still there, which is an issue. We’ve advocated for a couple of weeks that the Sedins be split on the 27th-ranked power play.
It is more difficult for them to age gracefully when necessity demands that the Sedins try to lead the Canucks every night, which makes them responsible when the team fails.
“Our first couple of years and what we went through then is helping us now, I think,” Henrik said. “But what we’re going through now, we’re enjoying, too — trying to get the team back to the playoffs and helping the young guys learn and going through what we’re going through.
“It’s fun because of the teammates and team we have. I’ve rarely been on a team where there are no bad parts. I enjoy being around every guy. And the young guys here really want to get better and that’s really refreshing and great to see. We know we can’t be leading guys when we’re 40 years old. The team has plans and they know where they want to be, and we’ve tried to play well and make it as tough as possible for guys to take over. But having guys chasing you, young guys who want to get better and show up every day to put in the work, that’s not tough at all for us.”
The Sedins have another year remaining on their contracts and Henrik said no decision has been made about what will happen after next season.
“We talk about things, of course, me and Danny and our families,” he said. “But right now we take it day by day. We try to enjoy the ride as much as possible.
“You can see on any given night, we’re in the games. I don’t think that was the case last year. There needs to be pieces brought in for sure to take that next big step. But at least we’re building a culture where everyone is accountable and we know what to expect from each other.”
That will be part of their legacy.