Canucks Rewind: Daniel and Henrik Sedin’s last game in Vancouver
The Vancouver Canucks have had many memorable moments throughout their franchise’s rich history.
Some of these moments stem back to the early years of the team, such as Gino Odjick’s unlikely penalty shot success, Tiger William’s iconic goal celebration and Greg Adam’s Stanley Cup ticket-punching tally.
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Others, of course, took place in the latter half of the club’s existence, including Roberto Luongo’s 72-save playoff debut performance and Matt Cooke’s last-second heroics that sent the team into game 7 overtime (and Ed Jovanovski into penalty box hysteria).
There are even a small handful of unforgettable moments that will go down in franchise-changing infamy. The “Heritage Moments” of Vancouver hockey, if you will.
They are the ones that have been permanently ingrained in the hearts of Canuck die-hards, so much so that we can’t think of anything else when we hear “The Stanchion” or “The Dragon Slayer”.
These events have done it all, from skyrocketing the fanbase into pure euphoria, to shattering their hopes and dreams into a million shards, and the list will continue to grow as the team moves onto the next batch of young, exciting franchise superstars.
However, when it comes to storybook ending moments in Canucks’ history, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one as fitting and emotional as Daniel and Henrik Sedin’s last home game in Vancouver.
Before we get to that, we need to first set the stage. And in typical Sedins fashion, they waited until the last minute to announce their retirement to avoid as much attention as they could.
The Canucks had just completed their final game in the month of March, and they were preparing to wrap up their season with three more matches in April. At the time, the team was on the outside looking in, and their 30-40-9 record had plummeted them to the bottom of the Pacific Division with no hope for the postseason.
Games 80, 81 and 82 didn’t have much meaning at all for the club, aside from being one of the final few factors that could ultimately decide their fate in the upcoming draft lottery.
As we all know, that didn’t end up being the case.
Early Monday morning, the twins took to the team website to officially announce their retirement from the NHL, and the news sent a seismic shock throughout the city of Vancouver.
Entering the last week of the campaign, Daniel and Henrik were sitting second and third in team scoring, and it appeared that both were still able to perform at an elite level in the league.
More importantly, fans, coaches and management alike were hoping that the Sedins would continue to be an integral part of the franchise’s rebuilding transition, knowing that their leadership and hockey IQ would be instrumental in the development of their younger stars moving forward.
But, as we all know, decisions like these ultimately fall to the players and their families, and both Daniel and Henrik felt that it was the right time to hang up the skates with the Canucks.
As soon as the retirement news broke, the city turned into a frenzy.
Messages of gratitude, thanks and admiration started to take over Twitter, with fans reminiscing on their favourite acts of Sedinery from the past two decades. Jerseys, shirts and other Sedin merchandise flew off the shelves, as everyone wanted one more piece to add to their team memorabilia collection.
Most importantly, however, the organization was hard at work, tirelessly planning the perfect way to send off the franchise’s most impactful players ever. And they only had two home games to complete the task.
The team kicked off the goodbye with a Tuesday night tilt against the Vegas Golden Knights. There was a noticeable buzz in the building, with everyone in attendance counting their blessings that they were able to witness the Sedins on the ice one more time. The Canucks ultimately fell to the Golden Knights in a shootout that evening, but the score didn’t matter.
Fans showered the twins with loving praise and thunderous applause any chance that they could, and they made sure that their electric energy would remain in Rogers Arena for the next 48 hours. This was merely the appetizer, and, in typical fashion, the Sedins were about to deliver a delectable main course that the city would savour for years and years to come.
The Canucks were set to play the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night, and the city was absolutely electric as soon as the sun rose that morning. Many buildings glowed yellow and blue to celebrate Daniel and Henrik’s Swedish roots, and every fan was patiently counting down the hours until the 7:00 pm puck drop.
The evening began with a pre-game tribute video, with past coaches and players touching on their time spent with the Sedins, and how the duo played such important roles for the Canucks both on and off the ice.
Fans were also able to send their own messages to Henrik and Daniel on a tribute mural wall outside of the arena, and many of them crowded the lower bowl seats during warm-ups, waving their homemade signs and pointing to the soon-to-be-retired numbers of 22 and 33 on the back of their jerseys.
To no one’s surprise, Daniel and Henrik emerged onto the ice as part of the team’s starting lineup, prompting the first round of booming applause for the twins that evening. This continued every time the twins stepped over the boards or touched the puck, with energy, anticipation and admiration rising higher and higher each time.
The first period didn’t go as planned for the Canucks, with the team trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes. The Sedins led their team back onto the ice for the second frame, and, in typical fashion, were able to produce another clutch moment early on.
With not even a minute elapsed on the clock, the Swedes went to work.
Henrik entered the offensive zone with pace, absolutely undressing Oliver Ekman-Larsson before feeding the puck to a streaking Alex Edler down the middle, who instinctually fed a backhand pass to Daniel for an easy tap-in. The building erupted with noise, with many fans being treated to a walk down memory lane after witnessing another vintage Sedinery play.
Unfortunately, the Coyotes were able to find the back of the net two more times in the second period, and they went to the dressing room with a 3-1 lead.
Again, much like Tuesday night’s tilt, the score was irrelevant.
Fans stood on their feet for the entire third period, showering the twins with applause every time they stepped onto the ice or when the camera panned to them on the bench. In between whistles, deafening chants of “One More Year” and “Hall of Fame” roared throughout the building.
For the first time in many years, there was an undeniable playoff-type atmosphere in Rogers Arena, and even the players took notice. Despite their position in the standings and in this game, they knew how important the next 20 minutes was for not only the Sedin twins, but for the city of Vancouver.
The team rallied from behind to erase the 3-1 deficit, thanks to tallies from Jake Virtanen and Brendan Leipsic, sending the game into overtime for the second consecutive night.
The sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena remained on their feet, still buzzing from the third-period comeback. There was a rising feeling of glory in the building, and everyone knew that something special was about to happen.
Cue the magic.
After Coyotes’ forward Richard Panik took a penalty with just over a minute played in the extra frame, the Canucks were set to go on the powerplay. The twins, like they had done for much of their careers, stepped over the boards, with Edler and young gun Bo Horvat behind them.
They cycled in the offensive zone for the first half of the powerplay, until the puck eventually came to Henrik in the corner with just under a minute left on the man advantage. He passed the puck back up to Daniel, who was parked near the blueline, and the rest was history. Literally.
After pausing for what felt like an eternity, Daniel put his head down, took one step forward and blasted the game-winning goal past Coyotes’ netminder Darcy Kuemper to wrap up the final scene in their perfectly scripted farewell.
The time on the clock went the puck went in, you ask? 2:33.
Like we said, perfectly scripted.
The bench erupted, with players hopping over the boards to mob the twins. The building was sent into a state of pure euphoria, with fans embracing one another, banging on the glass and throwing their hats onto the ice.
After the on-ice celebrations with their teammates ceased, Daniel and Henrik slowly skated around the arena for a few laps, clapping and raising their sticks to the fanbase that had supported them since day one.
Daniel finished the game with two goals and 10 shots, with Henrik following up with two assists of his own, and both players logged season-highs for ice time as well. But it was never about statistics for the former 1999 draft picks. As always, the brothers spoke from the heart during their post-game interviews, eloquently describing what this game really meant for them.
“I was happy. You couldn’t dream of a better ending in this building, the last time we stepped on this ice,” Daniel stated. “When I woke up this morning I knew it was going to be a big day. We tried to enjoy every minute of it,” Henrik followed up.
In other words, it was the perfect way for the franchise’s two best players to bid one final adieu.
The Sedin twins combined for 2,636 NHL games played, all with the Canucks’ organization. They still sit atop most of the franchise records lists, including points, goals, assists, game-winning goals and overtime goals, and it’ll be decades before another player even comes close to matching their skill.
More importantly, over their 18-year hockey careers, Daniel and Henrik Sedin provided countless highlights, memories and acts of service for the city of Vancouver, so it was only fitting that they were given the storybook ending that they truly deserved.
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What are your favourite moments from the Sedin twins? Make sure to drop a comment below!