Now it’s Sedins’ turn to take a bow
Smyth has fond memories of facing Canucks’ dynamic duo in his final game
Ryan Smyth spilled so many tears they could have flooded the ice at Rexall Place on his final NHL night four years ago.
But the stoic Swedish twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin may keep it together Saturday.
“I don’t see them crying like I was,” laughed the former Edmonton Oilers winger who played his 1,270th and last NHL game against the Sedins when the Canucks were here April 12, 2014. The Sedins made sure every Vancouver player shook Smyth’s hand before he took one last sobbing lap around the rink.
“They were the ones who headed that up,” said Smyth, who greatly appreciated the gesture. “Behind the mask or behind the equipment, they’re still human beings. They ’re such a class act. But maybe the Sedins shouldn’t even come to Edmonton after what they did in their last game in Vancouver.”
Daniel scored from Henrik at 2:33 of overtime Thursday to give the Canucks a 4-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Indeed, how do you top that piece of non-fiction?
Smyth, who was 38 at the time he retired, had a sense of inevitability when he walked into Rexall for the morning skate and hours before the game that he would never do it again and he figures the Sedin twins may be feeling the same. Where did all hockey days go?
“I’m sure they’re thinking, ‘I want to perform to the best of my ability and leave it all out there,’ ” said Smyth.
The Oilers tried mightily to get Smyth a goal that night but he couldn’t beat Jacob Markstrom in Edmonton’s 5-2 victory that night.
“I remember looking at Markstrom afterwards and he said, ‘I tried to get you one.’ ” chuckled Smyth.
The telepathic tendency of the Sedins to know what the other was doing or thinking has been wellchronicled, of course.
“I think Noodles (former NHL goalie Jamie McLellan) said it best when he said they were attached in the womb and they brought that to the NHL,” said Smyth.
Oilers winger Milan Lucic grew up in Vancouver. He has a different appreciation for what they brought to the table than just an opponent, but he broke their hearts when his Boston Bruins beat the Canucks in Game 7 of the 2011 Cup final.
“I remember when they got drafted back in 1999, I was this 11-year-old kid,” said Lucic. “And then watching their first (NHL) year when they’d get on the cycle. It was pretty impressive to watch. For somebody who grew up watching the Canucks in Vancouver, it’s pretty cool to play against them in their last NHL game. Big influence on my hockey life.
“It was a pleasure to watch them play for seven years before I got to the NHL and even more of a pleasure to get to compete against them in their prime when they might have been the two best players in the game. Two Art Ross trophies and one Hart and it could easily have been two. They were the real deal. That’ll earn their jerseys being retired in Vancouver and possibly we’ll see both in the Hall of Fame.”
Oiler winger Zack Kassian played on the same line as the Sedins for a time in Vancouver. “Yeah, I got a couple of back-door tap-ins,” he said. “I just put my stick on the ice and they would find you. And I don’t think they ever got enough credit for the beating they took over the years as D -men played them hard and they ’ve been really durable.”
Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson grew up in Sweden, totally admiring them.
“It almost seems like they’re passing to themselves,” said the hard-nosed Larsson, trying valiantly to break up their cycle. “They’re fun to watch but not so much fun to play against.”
Oilers forward Jujhar Khaira, who also grew up the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, was awestruck.
“My first game I lined up for a faceoff against Henrik and it was one of the coolest things,” he said. “You never think you’ll be in that circle with him. I wasn’t even close to winning that draw.”