Logical Progression wrote:
End of an era. It was far more emotional than I thought it would be. A beautifully authentic connection between the Canucks and the fanbase has emerged over the years in light of all crap they took from the fans and media in the early going - poetic justice. And then the Hollywood ending with half the team injured.
The anomalous nature of the Sedin story seems understated. Off the top, the fact that they both even made the NHL is sort of freakish -- usually one brother emerges (let alone twins). They managed to stay together for their entire careers on the same team (unheard of in today's world) and whose career stats were virtual mirror images of each other -- that may never happen again in pro sports. They could easily stay on and produce at a high level for two more years but they would rather end on their own terms and be remembered as players who finished at a high professional level rather than milk it.
The hole leave in the franchise is much larger than I ever thought it would be. More years of pain ahead but the Canucks are in a better position for the future because the twins are leaving room now for player development and the youth movement. Truly selfless act.
You don't know what you've got until it's gone.
Side note: Did anyone else see Marchand's twitter well wishes? Shame that his words and actions always seem to come off as trolling because I really thought he meant it.
https://twitter.com/Bmarch63Not sure what to make of Marchand's tweet. On one hand I'm guessing it was genuine, but he had to know it wasn't gonna go over well. His response to angry Canucks fans was, I have to admit, a pretty clever troll job.
And yes, it's crazy to have seen two brothers attain the levels they did with such a very unique approach to the game. The only other twin combo of note I can think of is Joel and Henrik Lundqvist, and as you said, one ended up as an elite NHL netminder, the other had pretty much a cup of coffee in the NHL before bolting back to Sweden.
I'd also add that, and for once I mean no offense to the guy, Alex Burrows probably would've been a somewhat notable grinder had he been part of any other organization. Probably fitting that a guy who had a very unconventional path to the NHL himself ended up being The Guy who finally clicked on the right side of the Sedins. Before that I think the only guys who even had limited success with them were Linden, Carter, and Samuelsson.