Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Even though the 2013 Vancouver Canucks season came to an end on Wednesday, the hockey season is not over for Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Alexander Edler, and Nicklas Jensen. All four players will be heading to Sweden and Finland to participate in the 2013 IIHF World Championship.

The Sedins and Edler could arrive as early as this Saturday to participate in Sweden’s game against Slovenia.

“These are obviously great players that will give the team a boost,” Swedish national team coach Pär Mårts told IIHF.com. “Another good thing is that this ends our process of adding players and this will give the team peace of mind to focus on the game.”

Jensen is also slated to join Denmark on Saturday in time for the game against Switzerland.

Fellow Dane and teammate, Jannik Hansen, declined to join the national team after he sustained an undisclosed injury in Game 4 against the San Jose Sharks. He finished the third period, but did not play in overtime.

Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

It was clear the Vancouver Canucks season was toast when the San Jose Sharks took a 3-0 series lead since there have been only three 0-3 deficit comebacks four times in North American professional sports history.

Fans had already stopped believing, but were hoping for a miracle comeback. The Canucks were playing in Game 4 to save face—to avoid a first round sweep.

The Canucks down 2-1 entering the third period tied the game at 9:12 on an Alexandre Burrows goal and then took the lead less than two minutes later after Alexander Edler scored on a slapshot from the point.

Then the controversy began.

Kevin Bieksa was called for a crosschecking penalty on Sharks forward Tommy Wingels, which might have been embellished on the part of Wingels. It appeared to be nothing more than a ‘push’ from Bieksa than a forceful crosscheck.

Joe Pavelski scored on the ensuring power play to tie the game.

Questionable call, but not as questionable and controversial as the penalty call on Daniel Sedin in overtime.

Sedin went shoulder to shoulder with Wingels in a battle for a loose puck. Wingels fell violently into the boards and a boarding penalty was assessed on the play by referee Kelly Sutherland, who was in the neutral zone. The referee closest to the play, Chris Lee, did not indicate a penalty.

Referee Kelly Sutherland on Daniel call: Deemed it a violent shove into the boards where the player couldn’t defend himself from the hit.

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) May 8, 2013

Regardless if Sutherland thought it was a penalty or not, he should have allowed his colleague closest to the play to make the call especially in overtime and in an elimination game.

The Canucks were not going to come back in this series. It just sucks it had to end like this.

(Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)

Vancouver Canucks forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin will be looking for new contracts from the team as early as this summer. Both players revealed their intention to re-sign with the team to the Vancouver Sun’s Iain MacIntyre—as if it was any surprise.

Great news for #Canucks: Sedins want to stay after contracts expire in 2014: “Absolutely. If it’s up to us, we want to stay here.”

— Iain MacIntyre (@imacVanSun) February 11, 2013

The Sedins signed identical five-year, $30.5 million contracts in the summer of 2009 just moments before they were going to become unrestricted free agents.

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis wanted to sign the Sedins to a shorter-term deal, while the twins wanted 12-year, $63-million contracts. It appeared the two sides might not be able to get a deal done, but Gillis and his assistant, Laurence Gilman, both flew to Sweden on June 28—just three days before they were due to hit the open market, to have a “heart-to-heart” with the two.

Needless to say, the Canucks and the Sedins were able to find common ground and a deal was reached. There were reports that then-Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke had flown to Sweden and was ready to pounce if and when they became available.

This time around, it shouldn’t be difficult for the Canucks to re-sign the Sedins given their increased attachment to the city. They were reluctant to go to Sweden during the lockout because their children were in school in Vancouver and will likely be just as reluctant to uproot their family this late into their NHL careers to play a few more seasons elsewhere.

Term shouldn’t be any issue either. The Sedins expressed interest in signing only one-year contracts with the Canucks for the rest of their career.