NO REST TILL EDMONTON
Sedins dig deep after emotional home farewell
It took 18 years for hockey to tire out the Sedin twins.
Also, it took a weeklong love-in so endearing everyone in Vancouver seemed to want to play a part in it. It took a lineup of tributes which, at this rate, may not fizzle out until June. And it took the most emotional game the Sedins have ever played.
If someone could adapt Thursday’s NHL game into a Broadway like show it would play to sellout crowds in Vancouver for years. There would be an emotional powerhouse story told and through it the most satisfying piece of art the city has ever seen.
On paper, the Sedins’ curtain call in Vancouver was a thrilling 4-3 overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes. But if you were there, or watching the broadcast, it was a robust, inspiring emotive experience that felt more like a guided tour through a rich museum than a sporting event.
Oh, the sporting part of it was incredible and better than anyone could have hoped. But the historical angle, the what-this-means portion of the night, pierced right through the centre of your heart.
Together, both elements left the Sedins admittedly exhausted. Now they have to do it one more time in Edmonton — and with feeling.
They will dig in one last time, but they are on fumes.
Against Arizona, Vancouver head coach Travis Green didn’t let the city down. He played the Sedins more than 21 minutes each and gave them huge roles in overtime. They made the coach look good with a series of dominating shifts where they got that signature cycle going one final time in Vancouver.
The crowd fed them, but they fed the crowd, too. The feeling from the audience went from “this is cool” to “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” over the course of three periods.
Whatever happens in Edmonton, it can’t top Thursday night and that’s how it should be.
The day started like any other for the Sedins. They drove to the rink the same way they have for the past 700 trips, give or take a couple.
They took the optional, like they almost always have, passing on the game-day skate, a routine some have dubbed “The Swedish Holiday.”
More players than usual gathered in the morning behind the locker-room in what they refer to as “The Swedish Lounge.”
They had a team meeting, and their coach shared a video of some of their most beautiful moments.
“It was when we looked like some of the younger guys in here,” Henrik joked.
Funny because that’s how they looked in Thursday’s game, too.
Fuelled by either adrenalin or magic, and we’re leaning toward the latter, the Sedins put on a show that would have impressed even during their eight-year run of offensive dominance.
From 2005-13, Henrik was fifth in NHL points and Daniel eighth. Together for those eight years, they were the most potent line in hockey.
Well, they were again Thursday. They combined with Alex Edler on a tick-tack-toe goal pulled from the 2011 yearbook. Daniel scored that one and the overtime winner too, a goal birthed from the type of persistent puck-possession shifts that so often whittled opponents down to the nub.
It brought the house down. Asked what he will take with him, Henrik said it’s what happened from that game-winning goal on.
It was a sequence where they celebrated with teammates before skating their final, slow laps around Rogers Arena saluting the fans with whom they’ve forged this dynamic bond.
The performance was so stunning because it’s been a long time since the Sedins have played with that kind of speed and ferocity. It’s part of the reason fans started chanting “one more year.” But in what were his most telling comments yet, Henrik explained why that just can’t happen.
“We’re at peace,” he said. “It was a great ending. It couldn’t have finished any better. But we’re done. There’s no coming back.
“We’ve been gone a lot (because of road trips). But even when we’re home, we go to games at 3:30 p.m. every day. (The kids) come home from school every day at 3:30 p.m. We never see them.
“They’re in bed when we get back. I have seen a lot of their soccer games. I haven’t seen a lot of their hockey games. It’s going to be fun to be a part of it now.”
For most of us, the most compelling parts of the night were wrapped up in either the Sedins or some of their memories.
One of the things that stuck with them was the visuals on the scoreboard when the camera panned to their kids.
“When I saw them playing rock, paper, scissors, I thought it was the right decision (to retire),” Daniel said.
That’s because they want to miss as few of those moments with their kids as they can.