Success off the ice is inevitable with Henrik and Daniel Sedin leading the organization

The Vancouver Canucks' rebuild has been unanimously supported, but more than rebuilding the roster, the team is in need of a culture-reset. The players have spent more time fighting each other than their opponents and expended more energy defending their clique than their own zone. They stopped reaching out to one another much like they stopped reaching out to the community. The fans felt the neglect and as a result, were never more disconnected from the team. There are no better people to reconnect with the community and champion a culture rebuild than Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

The two Canucks legends were bestowed honorary Doctor of Law degrees in 2017 from Kwantlan Polytechnic University “for the citizenship, sportsmanship, civility, respect, and care they demonstrate both on and off the ice in their adopted province of B.C.". The president of the university described them as "examples of everything that is good in people."

The Canucks' culture has always been built from within

There is a mentorship chain that goes back decades within the Canucks organization. Pat Quinn was a "huge proponent of hard work on and off the ice" and passed along these ideals to Brian Burke. The Sedins credit Burke for emphasizing the importance of community involvement but Trevor Linden was the player who showed them how.

Linden indicated that "caring about your teammates and community is necessary if one wants to play for the Canucks. This is non-negotiable." And the Sedins embodied those ideals and cultures for the majority of their 17 year career before retiring in 2018.

Unfortunately, that chain of mentorship seems to have stopped there. Players like Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, and Thatcher Demko were ideal candidates to be the next link. But whether it was the pandemic, the change in personnel, or the lack of team success and morale, no one in the front office or locker room prioritized community participation.

The Sedins are leading by example

The twin Hall-of-Famers realize that they have to be the ones to pick up where they left off almost a decade ago.

During the press conference when introduced as co-Presidents of Hockey Operations, they emphasized the importance of public engagement. Daniel said, "We should be the number one organization when it comes to community involvement. We're going to ask our players to do a lot."

There aren't two more qualified people in Vancouver to model this behaviour. As players, they were omnipresent in the community. They were frequently seen at the Canucks Place Children's Hospice and the BC Children's hospital. With both financial contributions and in-person appearances, they raised awareness for over 50 charities including the YWCA, the Canucks for Kids Fund, and the Canucks Autism Network.

These are merely the contributions that the public is aware of. A staff member of the Canucks revealed to The Daily Hive that “the twins did so much more for others than anyone ever knew."

Within a week of their introductory press conference, they were back at Canucks Place, joined by Ryan Johnson, the general manager, sharing an afternoon of arts and crafts with the children.

And on September 27th, they have scheduled a Sedin vs Sedin "Grouse Grind Grudge Trudge" (it could be very rainy and sloppy) to raise money for The Vancouver Sun's Adopt-A-School campaign through the Sedin Family Foundation. The Adopt-A-School program "provides grants to help feed and clothe impoverished students" whereas the Sedin Family Foundation "partner with schools, community groups, and social service agencies to identify needs and find creative and unique ways to make a difference for children and families."

It is not surprising that the Sedins have asked British Columbians to join them. 100 participants will be assigned to either Team Henrik or Team Daniel and race along side them. In addition to the time it takes the teams to complete the arduous hike, the amount of money raised by each team will be considered when declaring the winner. And would it shock anyone if the two cross the finish line hand-in-hand? Maybe all 102 participants join together in a human chain and cross the finish line together. Because in a competition like this, the true winners are the students-in-need and the community.

The Sedins were highlighted in a "Case Study of Servant Leadership in the NHL". In that academic publication, Henrik said, "as a person, I think that’s where you can make the biggest difference, in a community or with your friends, or teammates. I think you want to treat everyone else like you want to be treated yourself, and you want to be remembered." Daniel followed that with "I think if teammates and people say that they enjoyed our company and that we made them better people… I think that’s good enough for us. It’s important to us that they respect us."

Giving back to the public is in the Sedins DNA. The team not only has to rebuild their roster into a perennial contender for the Stanley Cup, they have to rebuild their reputation within the community. As Henrik emphasized, it is important "to have the people in the city and this province to be proud to be Canucks fans again".

The Canucks fans have already accepted the idea of the rebuild and are willing to embrace the players who are part of that rebuild. If those players follow the path of the Sedins and immerse themselves into the community while also finding success on the ice, Canuck nation will make them legends too.

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