VANCOUVER
P.K Subban Jersey , British Columbia (AP) Vancouver Canucks forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin announced they will retire at the end of the season.The
37-year-old twins disclosed their plans Monday in a letter on the team’s website
before addressing media later.The Sedins are in their 17th season in the NHL,
all with Vancouver. They led the Canucks to within one game of winning the 2011
Stanley Cup.”There’s been a lot of talk,” Henrik Sedin said at Rogers Arena. ”We
felt the longer the season went, it became clearer to us this was going to be
our last year.””It’s a happy day for all of us,” Daniel Sedin added. ”We’re
really comfortable where we’re at.”They relived the tough early times when they
were criticized for being too slow and soft, the high-flying glory days, the
crushing defeats, and the last three seasons that have seen the Canucks lose
more combined games than any other team in the league.”It’s always tough
losing,” said Daniel Sedin, who along with his brother will play just three more
NHL games. ”But with the team we had, you have to stay positive, you have to
keep playing the right way, and trying to teach the young guys.”Heading into the
final year of their contracts, the Sedins penned an open letter in the fall
stating their desire to remain with the only franchise they’ve ever known – even
if it meant forgoing the chance at a Stanley Cup elsewhere.”We know we had the
best jobs in the world,” Henrik Sedin said Monday. ”We tried to treat it that
way. … We haven’t looked too far ahead or we haven’t looked back. I’m sure we
will after this is done.”The twins said in their letter Monday that they
originally wanted to wait until after this season to make a decision, but they
decided the time was right to make the call.Selected second and third overall at
the 1999 draft after the Canucks made a series of trades to grab both brothers,
the Sedins have been the faces of the franchise for more than a decade. However,
it wasn’t initially a smooth transition from Sweden to North America.”There’s
lot of people that believed in us early on that were part of this organization,”
Henrik Sedin said. ”If they would have listened to a lot of voices out of this
room, it would have been easy to trade us because we didn’t live up to the
hype.”The Sedins would eventually do so to become one of the most fearsome duos
in the league, with what sometimes seemed like a telepathic ability to find each
other with passes. Their vision and ability to find each other on the ice often
left opponents shaking their heads.”We’ll miss them as people and as players,”
said Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden, who played six
seasons with the Sedins. ”Happy for them because I know this is a decision
they’ve come to for the right reasons.”Two likely Hall of Famers when their
numbers are eventually called, Henrik Sedin has 1
Authentic Pekka Rinne Jersey Kids ,068 points (240 goals, 828 assists) in 1,327 regular-season games, while Daniel Sedin has 1,038 points (391 goals, 647
assists) in 1,303 outings.Henrik added 23 goals and 55 assists in 105 playoff
games, with Daniel adding 25 goals and 46 assists in 102 games.Henrik won the
Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer in 2009-10 with 112 points. He also
won the Hart Trophy as league MVP that year.Daniel won the Art Ross in 2010-11
with 104 points. He also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the league MVP voted on by
the players.”When they dropped the puck, we wanted to be on the ice,” Henrik
Sedin said. ”We wanted to be the go-to guys.”The Sedins plan to stay in
Vancouver for the time being and are looking forward to spending more time with
family.”Going on the road, leaving the kids home, family, that’s been the
toughest part,” Daniel Sedin said. ”It will be fun to be around them a lot
more.”The core that got so close to a Stanley Cup title in 2011 has been slowly
stripped away, with the Sedins among the only players left.With players like
Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat at the front of a new wave under the leadership of
rookie coach Travis Green, the Sedins said they feel they’re leaving the
franchise in good hands.The Canucks also now have some holes to fill. Daniel
Sedin has 21 goals and 31 assists in 78 games this season, while Henrik Sedin
has three goals and 45 assists in 79 outings – a combined 100 points Vancouver
will have to replace.”It’s the right time for us to leave,” Henrik Sedin said.
”We’ve been part of a coaching staff and a group that we really enjoyed working
with.”The Canucks host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday before the Sedins’
final home game Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes. The twins will then wrap
up their careers Saturday at Edmonton.”It’s a chance for us to thank the fans,”
Daniel Sedin said. ”We told our teammates this morning they should be regular
games. Treat us the same way.”It should be no different this last week.”— The
Vegas Golden Knights were not only the top story in the NHL last season. They
were a top story across the entire sports landscape, and arguably the history of
all sports.Now, the expansion team from a year ago has the main objective of
avoiding a hangover from their magical season, which extended all the way to the
Stanley Cup Finals against the Washington Capitals.Article continues below
...Their second season starts Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers at
the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights go into the season full of
expectations, and they must do so after settling on new talent because of free
agency and trades.“It’s not like the situation we had last year,” Vegas coach
Gerard Gallant said. “It’s a whole different scenario.”Veteran goaltender Marc
Andre-Fleury
Roman Josi Jersey , whose efficiency sparked the Golden Knights last season, added, “I think there’s more expectations from the players, the staff
and the fans.“I think everybody expects us to do as well. At the same time,
though, if you want to have success, we can’t be thinking about all that stuff
(from last season). You’ve just got to be worrying about playing your game the
way you can and success will come.”Can Vegas continue its production from last
season? Twelve returning players set NHL highs for points in 2017-18, including
the top line of William Karlsson (78), Jonathan Marchessault (75) and Reilly
Smith (60). Second-line forward Erik Haula (55) and defensemen Colin Miller
(41), Nate Schmidt (36), Shea Theodore (29) and Deryk Engelland (23) are also
included on that list.Fleury’s 2.24 goals-against average and .927 save
percentage were the best of his 14 NHL seasons.The second line has new faces
with the Golden Knights signing center Paul Stastny and acquiring right wing Max
Pacioretty in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens during the offseason. They
replace forwards David Perron and James Neal, who left in free agency.Perron led
Vegas in assists last season with 50 and Neal scored 25 goals.The Flyers, who
lost in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to Pittsburgh, were one of
the youngest teams in the league last season, but that youthful talent was
significant to their success.Travis Konecny, 21, is one of the team’s top
players and will join captain Claude Giroux and Selke finalist Sean Couturier on
the first line. Nolan Patrick is part of a formidable line that includes Wayne
Simmonds and Jacob Voracek.One of the main objectives for Flyers coach Dave
Hakstol is deciding on the vacant third-line center role that was occupied last
season by Valtteri Filppula, who signed with the New York Islanders.Jordan Weal
and Scott Laughton are top candidates. Weal is playing at his original position
after skating on a wing in recent years. Laughton may open against the Golden
Knights on left wing if he does not play in the middle.“I think playing in the
league a couple years now, I kind of have more confidence with the puck,”
Laughton said. “I work with an elite skills coach back home and try to work on
the little things that I wouldn’t work on — a lot of stuff with your head up.
“Goaltending remains a major concern for the Flyers. The tandem of oft-injured
Michal Neuvirth and Brian Elliott was ranked in the bottom 10 of the NHL last
year in save percentage. Elliott posted a .909 save percentage in the last two
seasons, and Neuvirth has been at .912 when healthy.
