Sedins are making another nice pass
As Swedish twins enter twilight of careers, we are witnessing the slow handoff of torch to Horvat
Swedes have ruled Vancouver for nearly 20 years. Markus Naslund to the Sedin twins is a connection not unlike Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, without the championships of course
You know it’s been a long time when you have to count in decades when looking back for the last player not named Sedin or Naslund to lead the Canucks in points.
It was 19 years ago. The player was Pavel Bure.
What followed Bure was the two best eras in Canucks history. The second, the Sedin era, has been held together by loose stitches for a couple of years now. The Sedins are 36, their careers gently closing.
Just a few months ago, people were still questioning where the next one was going to come from. You can’t help but wonder now if he’s already here.
At the halfway point of the season, Bo Horvat leads the Canucks in goals and points. He managed Vancouver’s only goal in a spirited 3-1 loss to the Flames in Calgary on Saturday. It was the exclamation point on a wondrous, 48-second shift, a stretch during which Calgary got a stick on the puck just three times.
As Sven Baertschi, Alex Burrows and Horvat stylishly and forcefully played catch, cycling the puck with Sedin-like precision and dominance, you could feel the pressure building on Calgary’s defence. You could also feel something else, something that hasn’t been common in Vancouver. Not for a long time, anyway. That would be excitement for the offensive upside of Canucks youth.
There are lots of reasons Horvat should be the heir apparent. He has a ton in common with the Canucks greatest Swedish players, actually. Horvat is polite, professional and accountable. He’s also incredibly focused, devoid of distractions in life, which is not an insignificant thing for a young professional hockey player.
There is but one reason Horvat has not often been thought of as next in line. He wasn’t supposed to score. Not like this. In his past 13 games, he has 13 points. For the past month, he’s 10th in the league in point production.
On the season, Horvat’s 13 goals leads the team. His 16 assists are one behind Henrik.
When he was drafted three and a half years ago, many hoped he’d a good shutdown centre one day.
Only a few months ago, he was centring what many viewed as the fourth line, flanked by Derek Dorsett and Burrows. It’s hard to believe now. Yes, time moves fast.
Even now, he’s averaging 13:33 per game in even-strength ice time. That’s a minute less than Brandon Sutter and more than two minutes fewer than Henrik Sedin.
By most definitions, Horvat is centring the Canucks third line. Horvat won’t keep up this recent point pace, but he does have more to give in the second half of the season because he can play more and his coach seems to know it.
“What’s changed this year is that he hasn’t had to take as many of the defensive-zone faceoffs,” Willie Desjardins said. “Not lately. I still have lots of confidence in him. I think he can handle 18, 19 or 20 minutes a night. That’s not an issue.
“But when his line has been fresh, they’ve been effective.”
It does seem appropriate, if we really are watching Henrik pass the torch, it’s Burrows carrying the flame. In the second half of last season, Horvat broke out offensively. The defensive side of his game still had a long, long way to go, a point often ignored.
But with Burrows this season, Horvat has turned a corner. When both are on the ice, the Canucks are scoring 61.5 per cent of the goals.
When Horvat plays without Burrows this season, the Canucks are scoring just 40 per cent of the goals. With Burrows, Horvat is controlling 51.5 per cent of shot attempts. Without him, just 43.3 per cent. The differences here are stunning.
Eight years ago, Burrows was the catalyst who helped take the Sedins to the next level.It appears he’s doing it again with the next generation.