Henrik Sedin’s Ironman Streak Comes To An End

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

It was announced yesterday that Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin did not board the plane to Edmonton and is listed as day-to-day. That’s something that Canucks fans are not used to hearing, “Henrik Sedin is day-to-day…” Just let that sink in. It’s been 679 NHL games. That’s 3595 days since the last time Henrik Sedin sat out of a regular season game. While he is 4 games behind the longest current ironman streak held by Jay Bouwmeester of the St. Louis Blues, if you add in the 75 playoffs games Sedin has played in that stretch, he’s played far more than the former Calgary Flames defenseman. In any case, it’s a feat to behold and one that we’re all sorry to see end.

In what can only be described as a run of cheap shots, Phoenix forward Martin Hanzal cut crosschecked a swath through the Vancouver Canucks last Thursday. With shots to the ribs of Mike Santorelli and the aforementioned Henrik Sedin, he then took it upon himself to rearrange parts of David Booth’s face with the middle of his stick. Results on Booth’s facial integrity are yet to be determined, but Santorelli has already missed a game with a suspected shoulder injury and has been seen around Rogers Arena with his arm in a sling, while the news that Henrik will be missing at least the upcoming one game road trip broke yesterday. Henrik dressed and played for half of Saturday’s “hockey game” against the Flames, but never looked healthy and left the game shortly before the second intermission. If you were watching the game, you could tell that he was heavily favouring his left side and was clearly in a great deal of discomfort.

Beginning in October of 2009, you’ll remember Daniel Sedin missed 18 games due to a broken foot and critics everywhere were licking their lips, dabbing their pens, and kicking their typewriters getting ready to write about how they always knew the Sedins needed each other and how they couldn’t match their strong level of play unless the other was on the same sheet of ice. Well, it didn’t go quite the way pundits predicted. Henrik played like a man possessed, and actually ended up winning the Art Ross Trophy that year, despite missing his “other half” for almost a quarter of the season. Here’s to hoping Daniel as much the same success, regardless of how long Henrik is out for. The Canucks have just come off perhaps the most bizarre week of the last couple seasons and could use something to cheer about… that doesn’t include a line brawl off the opening faceoff. Oh, alright. One more time: