Canucks: Henrik Sedin joins Sportsnet 650 radio to talk new role

The Vancouver Canucks are going all out to introduce the newest members of their front office.

On Tuesday afternoon, after a month of speculation and curiosity, the organization finally released an official statement, naming Henrik and Daniel Sedin as Special Advisors to the General Manager.

On Wednesday morning, the twins, alongside General Manager Jim Benning, addressed the media for the first time since the announcement, speaking more about their roles and expectations within the Hockey Operations department.

And on Wednesday afternoon, Henrik wrapped up the media tour, this time appearing on “The People’s Show” on Sportsnet 650, hosted by Dan Riccio, Randip Janda and Satiar Shah.

As expected, Henrik conducted the interview with poise and clarity, with all three radio personalities picking up on Henrik’s excitement to rejoin the organization right from the get-go.

Riccio kicked off the interview with a pertinent question, one that has most likely been on the minds of most fans in Vancouver for the past 24 hours – why now?

“It’s been three years now we’ve been out of the game,” Henrik stated. “We’ve always talked about wanting to come back and help because we care about this team, and we’ve played there for a long time.”

Henrik further followed up on the question, adding that he and his brother weren’t just coming in “as a PR move”, which speaks volumes to how the twins conduct themselves in everything that they do. Henrik, who currently holds the record for most points in franchise history with 1070, has stressed on multiple occasions that he and Daniel are very meticulous with their decision-making, stating that now felt like the right time to join the organization.

Shah chimed in with the next question, talking about Henrik and Daniel’s legacies as players, and how they might be putting it on the line with this managerial move.

“If we cared about pressure or legacy, it would be easy for us to not step in,” Henrik replied. “But we’ve talked before. There’s a playing legacy, and then there’s stuff you leave behind. We’re rookies at this job. We want to come in and learn and be a part of things, so we’ll see where things come up.”

Henrik mirrored what his brother had said earlier that morning in regards to the two of them being brand-new to the role, something fans weren’t familiar with when it came to the previous player-turned executive in Trevor Linden. This choice of words also showed that the Sedins are willing to role up their sleeves to learn on the fly as often as they can, much like they did when they first landed in Vancouver as 18-year-old rookies.

Shah went on to talk about the importance of having strong culture within the dressing room and throughout the entire organization, and how that shaped the success of the franchise in the early 2010’s, when the Sedins were just starting their tenures as captain and alternate captain. Shah also noted that, during those winning seasons, many players took pay cuts to stay with the club because they wanted to win. Henrik chimed in shortly after, giving his take on how the current team can begin to build their own winning culture.

"“I truly believe that it’s about working together. It’s from the top, and ends up in the dressing room. In the end, it comes down to your top players doing the right things, day in and day out. From there, you can start building and holding each other accountable. If your top guys aren’t doing it, or if they see that people further up in the organization are not doing the right things, it’s tough to create that”."

It’s hard to say if today’s crop of players would take less money or make other sacrifices if the opportunities presented themselves especially given the most recent struggles of the club, but there are definitely some players now that can help to instill this winning, team-first mindset into the young blood of the roster.

Captain Bo Horvat played four seasons with the Sedins before they hung up the skates in 2018, while defenceman Alex Edler nearly tripled that amount, playing with Henrik and Daniel from 2006 to 2018. Of course, we’re not sure if the latter will be back next season to help maintain that culture, but he’s fortunately done a great job already, in large part due to the twins.

Plus, it sounds like the Sedins will undoubtedly pick up the slack if necessary when it comes to replicating and engraining the winning mindset that they worked so hard to achieve during their playing days.

Janda concluded the interview, asking Henrik about the importance of training habits, especially for young, upcoming stars (and fellow countrymen) like Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander.

“Lack of confidence comes from lack of preparation,” Henrik stated.

"“How do you come in every day? Do you come in sour because you lost the game or do you come in upbeat because you want to be better? It’s a small thing, but to create a culture, it’s a big thing.”"

There’s no surprise that, in addition to establishing a long-lasting formula to win and compete,  Henrik and Daniel were also brought in to help improve communication within the franchise, both externally and internally. Fortunately, they already appear to be on the right track in that department.

When asked if he and his brother would have a strong presence in the locker room right off the bat, Henrik didn’t have a concrete answer. However, he continued to emphasize how excited they were to work with multiple voices throughout the organization, as well as with a diversity of thoughts on all levels, something he eluded to multiple times during the morning media availability.

You can listen to the full radio interview here.

Despite the announcement already being made, the Sedins aren’t expected to officially start their roles until July 1st, the beginning of the team’s fiscal calendar, according to Thomas Drance of The Athletic.

In other words, they’re not technically Special Advisors just yet, but that hasn’t stopped them from already kickstarting change in the city. From the time of this article being written, over the past 36 hours, the twins have already created a sense of optimism, stability and intelligence within the organization that fans haven’t been able to experience in nearly a decade.

And that’s with Henrik and Daniel putting most of their energy towards supporting Sweden in Euro 2020.

What are your thoughts on Henrik’s first radio interview as a team executive? Let us know in the comments!