The question of who is the better Sedin is a silly one: the two have always been a package deal and you can’t separate them in any significant way.
We can, however, celebrate a few of their individual moments. Sure, most of the greatest Sedin moments are as a duo: the tic-tac-toe passing plays, the insane puck possession shifts that made defencemen dizzy, and the soundtrack of “Daniel, to Henrik, to Daniel, to Henrik.” But Daniel and Henrik Sedin also had some fantastic moments as individuals.
Daniel got his moment in the sun with 10 of his best individual moments as a Canuck, http://www.vancourier.com/pass-it-to-bulis/10-of-daniel-sedin-s-best-individual-moments-as-a-canuck-1.23256944 so it’s only fair for his older brother to get his due.
So, here are 10 of Henrik Sedin’s best moments as a Canuck.
1 | Henrik’s first playoff goal is an overtime game-winner
Henrik’s goals will get prettier as this list goes on, but his first playoff goal was a big one. It’s a solo effort too, with no assists. He simply skates in, spots an opportunity to put the puck on net, and floats a shot past Dominik Hasek, the greatest goaltender in NHL history.
No big deal.
2 | Henrik comes up with a game-winner in 2010 playoffs
This goal was huge. It was a tie game late in the third period when Henrik broke the puck out, then took off full speed through the neutral zone, picking up the puck in the Kings’ end. He’s got Alex Burrows coming up the left wing and everyone in the building is thinking he’s going to pass.
Instead, he suddenly pivots, pulls the puck to his forehand, and snaps it just inside the far post. He celebrates the goal with the most excitement Canucks fans had ever seen from him up until that point in his career.
3 | Henrik busts out the spinorama to score on the Kings
Henrik may prefer to pass rather than shoot, but he sure scored some pretty goals. In 1-on-1 on Sean O’Donnell, he absolutely embarrasses the Kings’ defender with a spinorama, then pulls the puck to his forehand and snaps it past Jonathan Quick.
It was his second goal of the game. Actually, it was his second goal of the minute. He had scored his first 30 seconds earlier.
4 | Henrik goes full Forsberg on the Sharks
Sure, Daniel gets the assist here with a neat little saucer pass, but what an individual effort by Henrik.
The Sedins grew up in the same town as Peter Forsberg, Ornskoldsvik. It’s a town with around 32,000 inhabitants, but has somehow spawned a surprising number of great hockey players: Forsberg and the Sedins, but also Markus Naslund, Victor Hedman, Anders Hedberg, and Niklas Sundstrom.
It seems right that Henrik paid homage to Forsberg’s famous move, though it should be noted that he did it at full flight in 5-on-5 action during a game, not during a shootout at a slower pace. It’s an absolutely incredible goal.
5 | Henrik takes home the Art Ross and Hart Trophy
One of the big reasons Henrik won the Hart in 2010 is how he stepped up his game when his brother was injured for a long stretch. Henrik put the team on his back and suddenly started scoring goals. In the 18-game stretch that Daniel was out early in the season, Henrik had 10 goals and 18 points, including a hat trick.
Henrik won the Art Ross and Hart Trophy in 2009-10 despite Daniel missing 19 total games. He beat out Sidney Crosby, who had 51 goals that season, and Alex Ovechkin, who had 50 goals. Henrik won the Art Ross and Hart while Crosby and Ovechkin were in their primes.
The presentation of the Hart itself suffered from a very francophone pronunciation of “Sedin,” but has a great moment when Henrik thanks his older brothers for letting him play with them despite being “very annoying.” He also throws a shout-out to Trent Klatt, along with some more well-known former teammates, for helping him when he first game into the league.
Then he knocked it out of the park with a dig at Daniel: “There’s no way you can tell me you’re the better player right now.”
6 | Henrik is named the 13th captain in franchise history
This is one thing Henrik will always have on Daniel: he was the captain. He’s the one with the “C” on his jersey.
The ceremony could not have been handled better: members of the Canucks inaugural season were on the ice for the 40th anniversary of the franchise, they were wearing their stick-in-rink retro third jerseys, they were playing the Los Angeles Kings, the same team they faced in their first ever NHL game, and the Kings were wearing their throwback purple and gold.
Henrik had the jersey with the “C” handed to him directly from Orland Kurtenbach himself after a hype-up video honouring his Hart Trophy and Art Ross wins from the previous season. It was a fantastic moment that kicked off the best season in franchise history.
7 | Henrik becomes the Canucks’ all-time leading scorer
Henrik holds the franchise record in points with 1068 points (as of now) and he passed Markus Naslund with a simply gorgeous pass. Sure, it wasn’t as fancy as some of the other great passes in his career, but this pass absolutely threads the needle between players to find Alex Burrows off the rush.
Is there anything more perfect than Henrik setting a franchise record with a perfect pass to Burrows?
Yes. Yes there is.
8 | Henrik reaches 1000 career points
Now this was perfection. On home ice, Henrik records his 1000th career point against former Canuck and good friend Roberto Luongo. It’s a great move on the breakaway too, deking to his backhand and tucking the puck five-hole. The entire team came pouring off the bench and he even got congratulations from the goaltender he just beat.
Henrik reaching 1000 points would already be a fantastic moment; the actual circumstances elevated it to something truly special.
9 | Henrik passes the puck through a goaltender’s legs
This, in my mind, is Henrik Sedin’s greatest pass of all time.
It’s a set play off a defensive zone faceoff that gives Henrik and Alex Burrows a 2-on-1. Henrik, uncharacteristically, keeps the puck and moves in on Antti Niemi. The defenceman, Dan Boyle, completely takes away the passing lane with his great positioning and stick. Henrik gets in too deep: he has no room to shoot the puck and no other play available.
And then he passes the puck through Niemi’s legs.
Who else, other than Henrik, even thinks to make that pass?
The second play call on this video, from NBC’s Dave Strader, is the best of the three, as he was the quickest to realize just how insanely amazing Henrik’s pass truly was.
To top it off, this was in the playoffs and set a franchise record for most assists in a playoff game. It was his fourth assist of the night.
10 | Henrik cements his Art Ross win with a sublime assist
Sure, Henrik shares this moment with his brother, but let’s ignore the between-the-legs goal and instead focus on the between-the-legs pass.
Christian Ehrhoff sends the puck to Henrik in the faceoff circle, but instead of taking the pass and looking to make a play, Henrik just neatly tips it between his own legs to his brother who he could not possibly have seen.
Seriously, watch the whole play. At no point does Henrik look to see where Daniel is, but he somehow puts the puck right on his tape with a no-look, between-the-legs tip pass. I know I’m contradicting what I literally just said, but this is Henrik Sedin’s greatest pass of all time.
To make it even better, it was Henrik’s final point of the season, giving him a career-high 112 points and putting an exclamation point on the Art Ross.
It may have been Daniel’s goal, but it was Henrik’s moment.
Bonus! | Henrik catches Sami Salo’s stick
Look, this moment doesn’t really matter. At all.
But man is it neat. Look at him! He catches the stick out of mid-air! Casually, like a boss!
