One of the Vancouver Canucks’ most memorable players recalled a night that gave the great Henrik Sedin an individual accolade.
On an episode of Energy Line with Nate & JSB, with former NHLer Nate Thompson and broadcaster Julie Stewart-Binks, former Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa talked about the night the team went out of their way to give Sedin the Art Ross Trophy during the 2009-10 season.
Heading into the final game of the season, Henrik was trailing Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin for the league lead in points by two. With the Canucks having already clinched a spot in the postseason, they decided to turn their goal toward helping the future captain.
“[Head coach Alain] Vigneault calls us in, and he goes, ‘[Kevin, Daniel, Henrik], you’re gonna play together all night. I don’t care about the game. I don’t care about winning, but we’re gonna get Henrik that record.’ It was the most fun game I’ve ever played in my entire life. I had two goals and an assist. I was like, all over the place, like it was just play after play.”
Henrik ended up having four points during the 7-3 beatdown of their Western Canadian rivals, enough to win the points race.
“We had a celebration like we won the Stanley Cup, but we were all so happy for him.”
For as good as the Sedin twins were, winning individual trophies wasn’t something that happened prior to that season. Playing in an era when Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby burst onto the scene, standing out wasn’t easy for the Canuck legends. However, things just worked for the brothers that year.
Henrik would post a career-high 112 points that year, including 83 assists. Daniel was a little behind with just 85, as that point was the most he had scored in a single campaign. Henrik went on to win the Hart Trophy that season.
The following season saw Daniel light up the league. With 41 goals and 104 points in 2010-11, the Swedish winger won the Art Ross and was named the winner of the Ted Lindsay Award as the players’ choice for most valuable player.
Despite both going on to have Hall of Fame careers, scoring well over 1,000 points each in Vancouver, that would be the only time that the brothers each hit the century mark in a single season.
