On Tuesday we talked at length about Daniel Sedin's hat trick versus the Chicago Blackhawks. We covered it from all angles. We marvelled at the skill on display. We lightly broke the second and third goals down. We even discussed hat toss etiquette, after the Rogers Arena crowd made it clear they needed a refresher course.
But it turns out there's more to say about it. Shortly after the post went up, reader Simon Tse pointed out how eerily similar Daniel Sedin's hat trick goal is to a goal Sedin scored in 2011. You have to see this.
Here's another look at Daniel's hat trick goal from Saturday:
Now, normally, I'd say that if you see another give-and-go executed that beautifully in your lifetime, count yourself lucky. But the reality is we saw this same give-and-go from these same two guys against the same opponent just three years ago. Remember this beauty from 2011?
In the Blackhawks' defence, none of the players beaten It's the exact same play. Daniel Sedin gains the zone along the far wall. Then he slows up and waits for his brother to get in behind him. Once the two are in formation, Daniel leaves for Henrik then surges forward pushing the defence backwards. Then, when the left defender tries to switch onto the puck-carrier, Henrik saucers a pass over his stick to Daniel, who deflects it into the goal.
The 2011 goal isn't quite as pretty. Henrik has to come from a little further away, and there's a deflection. But otherwise it's the same play -- yet another reminder that the Sedins are never just doing their thing on the fly. They have a private playbook, and they try many of the same tricks and formations over and over.
In fact, you can see Henrik call for the play in the 2011 clip. Watch him at the bottom of the screen right when the clip begins: after sending the puck to Daniel at the far wall, he lifts his head, surveys the scene, then directs Alex Burrows to charge through to the net. Burrows takes off, and the moment he enters the zone, making a beeline for the white shirts, Henrik walks the blueline to get in formation behind his brother. (Jannik Hansen plays the same role in the more recent goal. He doesn't run quite as much interference, going around the outside rather than skating right into the Chicago defenders. But it has the same effect, forcing the right-sider out of the play and allowing Daniel the space to receive Henrik's return pass.)
The next time someone suggests the Sedins are over the hill, that they'll never again be able to do what they were doing in 2011, you show them this.
