Hank Sedin’s Emergence - Is He an Elite Player Yet?
Vancouver Canucks centre Henrik Sedin has been quietly making his way up the list of top points producers in the National Hockey League. This week he was rewarded as the first of the NHL’s three stars for the month of December - and with good reason.
Sedin led all scorers last month with 25 points (5 goals and 20 helpers) and has been a huge part of the reason for Vancouver’s 10-4-1 record for the month. The team is now fully in contention for the Northwest Division lead and Sedin recorded points in all but one of those games in December.
Henrik, along with his brother Daniel, was rewarded for his excellent performance with a new contract with the Canucks last summer that amounted to $6.1 million a year for the next five seasons. Hank has certainly been proving his worth and then some, even proving his individual worth during a patch when Daniel Sedin was out of action.
Perhaps an even bigger surprise is that Henrik Sedin sits second in league scoring with 55 points. He’s just a pair of points behind San Jose’s Joe Thornton and is ahead of such snipers as Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Who would have thought that a player once dubbed as one of the “Sedin Sisters” would be in such a position?
Those of us who call Vancouver our home and those of us who call the Canucks our hockey team have known the secrets of the Sedins for a while now and have seen the twins’ positional puck possession up close. Henrik’s ability to move the puck to his brother has been the stuff of legends, but he’s lately been proving to be a threat on his own as well.
Whether Hank or Daniel will be offensive dynamos in their NHL careers remains to be seen, of course, but there really is something to this surge of production from the Sedins. If their production continues to mount, any past labels and criticisms will fall by the wayside and contending with the likes of Don Cherry or other dinosaurs will be a thing of the past.
But if production levels off and if the Sedins can’t deliver a Cup to Vancouver’s impatient throng, they may be forced to deal with the “Sisters” label for quite some time - even if they are remarkably tough and strong on the puck and even if they possess hockey sense most players in the league are jealous of.
Posted by Jordan Richardson.
Tags: daniel sedin, henrik sedin, sweden, swedish, Vancouver Canucks
January 5th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
There’s no question, Hank is having a career year and has definitely become a sniper! I think it’s interesting that everyone’s kind of forgetting what a year Daniel is having as well… with the injury aside, he’s averaging 1.25 pts / game this year which would currently put him third in league scoring above Gaborik and just below Henrik!
January 6th, 2010 at 7:22 am
I wonder if people are still complaining about the Canucks and there constant pursuit of the Sedin twins.
It seemed like the Canucks made a mistake. I questioned the Management staff of the Canucks my self.
Well, so far that so called mistake was made was by me and any of the the other doubters
There was so much Rumbling with those two and Henrick has done nothing but greatness with without his brother.
When I think of most Valuable players
I think this year Henrick is right up there with Alex OvenChicken and Crosby.
In fact come to think of it If the season ended today the hart trophy should go to Henrick or Zach Parise of the Devils.
January 6th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Henrik now leads the league in scoring after a three point night (one goal, two assists) in Tuesday’s 7-3 victory over Columbus.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
I think Henrik is having a banner year and both Henrik and Daniel have made their case to be star players in the league. They are All-Stars no doubt. My only wish is that they add some stardom or superstar status to their game. By doing so, this would mean they can carry our team if we play a poor game or erase a 2 goal deficit in a few shifts. That sort of thing will not only be good for the team but also catapult them into the echelon of players like Crosby, Iginla and Lecavalier. All stars have their off games, weeks or perhaps even months, but you just need that one stellar season and all is forgotten.
Checkout THN’s Campbellnomics, one way of measuring a player’s “clutchness”. I think it’s important that the Canucks find someone who can climb this list. It’s nice to have a balanced attack, but sooner or later, you’re going to have to pit a superstar vs. another superstar. I hope the Twins will be ready.
http://thehockeynews.com/articles/30526-Campbellnomics-Jan-5.html