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A Canucks fan that grew up watching them says farewell to the Sedins

Guest post by Tyler D'Souza.
Henrik and Daniel Sedin skate with the Canucks

"Do you want to do a hockey pool?"

My reaction to my friend Dylan's question was mostly fear; I didn't know what he meant. I assumed it had to do with swimming, which I could still barely do at 10 years old. Also, I didn't know how hockey worked.

I said yes because it seemed like the right thing to say. Eventually I learned we were picking players to accrue the most points. I remember having Ed Jovanovski and Henrik Sedin on my team. I don't think I won.

Since I was in a hockey pool, I decided I needed to know the rules to hockey. So I started watching.

I learned the rules, and began to love it. I remember worrying when a Blues player scored from behind the net by banking the puck off of Cloutier's back. I remember the next season, being allowed to stay up past my bedtime because Game 6 was going to overtime against the Flames, on the condition that I stay quiet so everyone else could sleep. Then it went to double overtime. Then triple. And then Brendan Morrison scored!

Those two playoffs gave me a couple of stand out moments, but what hooked me as a kid for whom basketball was everything was this pair of twins who were basically playing a pick-and-roll offense on ice.

The lockout didn't really register to me as a child, it was just a longer wait for hockey to come back. And when it came back, the West Coast Express era was ending. Black and maroon became blue and green. Dan Cloutier became Roberto Luongo. But most importantly, the twins became The Twins.

I still participated in fantasy hockey, but it was a distant second to the hockey fantasies my friend Harris and I spent every day concocting between classes. We'd panic about losing streaks, and exalt Alex Burrows for ending them. We'd collect the daily posters from The Province come playoff time and put them up on the hallway cork boards by our lockers; only ever getting halfway through the roster before the team was eliminated.

I remember being thrilled at drawing a second round matchup against Chicago, thinking little of them. That's the season I learned how to pronounce 'Byfuglien'. The season I developed a distaste for The Fratellis. That's the season that when someone would ask me who my favourite Canuck was, I'd give an untrue answer because how could I choose between Henrik and Daniel? Case in point: it's the season I created an email account with the username BurKesLu.

Matching up against Chicago the next year was scary; I can hear “'Chelsea Dagger” in my head just thinking about it.

But man, the 2010-11 season started, and I just knew. I knew this year was different. 40th season. The Twins were at their peak. The most exciting thing on TV to me was watching them cycle on the power play. Slow, methodical, towing the line of interference. Lethal. On their backs, the Canucks were the best team in the league.

It was my first year out of high school, and the first time i got a job. I intentionally didn't pick any Canucks for my fantasy team; I would PVR each game so that I could watch from the beginning of the game if I was coming to it late, and I wanted to be able to check my fantasy team without spoiling the Canucks game for myself. I watched every minute of every game that season. I started putting The Province's posters up on my wall when the playoffs started.

I wasn't worried about Chicago this year; I knew we were better than them. Up 3-0 in the series, I was flying high. No worries losing Game 4. Slight trepidation losing Game 5. Nightmarish anxiety losing Game 6.

Game 7 was beyond stressful. Up 1-0, with 5 minutes to go, I started to let myself believe Vancouver would pull through. And then it happened. Toews, short-handed, with 1:56 left. I remember it so vividly. My stomach dropped out. I took the couch apart, and curled up on one of the cushions all through the intermission before overtime, in shock.

If you lived in Vancouver at the time, or followed hockey at all, you know what happened.

"They've slayed the dragon!"

"After 3 seasons, and 19 playoff games against Chicago, for Vancouver, it's a wonderful day for an exorcism."

I don't know that I actually heard either of those iconic calls; I was running around the apartment, yelling my face off.

Nashville was up next, and Harris, who had just come back from school out east for the summer, wanted to go to a playoff game. We bought a pair of upper bowl tickets on Craigslist, and we were there for Game 5, ready to see the Canucks book their ticket to the conference finals, but alas they lost. No worries though, Game 6 sent them through.

Bieksa's stanchion goal eliminated the Sharks, and I remember being concerned about the confetti coming down, because I hadn't seen the replay yet, and couldn't quite believe it counted, and that we were going to the Cup Final.

A group of friends and I had tickets to the Sasquatch festival that year. May 27-30. I almost didn't want to go, fearing that I'd miss Game 1 of the finals; Tampa Bay was leading Boston, and could have moved on in 6, which would have started the finals while I was away. Someone in the crowd told me that Boston had forced Game 7, and I breathed easy, knowing I'd be back for Game 1. I look at photos from that festival, at 18-year-old-me's 2 month "playoff beard", which looks like 10 days' growth now, and I remember the pure, unadulterated, naive hope.

My wall had the full roster of posters up now. I was ready. Just before Game 1, another friend of mine texted me asking if I would be recording Game 1 because he had an exam during the game. I told him to come over after and we'd watch it. He was worried that the result would be spoiled somewhere between UBC and my place, so I told him to go sit in a field away from people with headphones on and I'd come pick him up.

I intended to wait for him to watch it, but I couldn't wait. I watched it live, celebrated the 1-0 win, then went to pick him up, and watched it a second time, with a poker face on so as not to give anything away for him.

After they won Game 2, I said aloud, "Holy cow, they're really going to win the Cup!"

They didn't.

It's hard for me to think back on the 2011 final, but my love for the Sedins deepened so much through that series; they were tough, classy, and accountable. I really think the league failed them with the way that series was called.

The past 7 years have been tough for me in regards to my Canucks fandom. There are a number of reasons for this: I haven't lived somewhere with cable or PVR, so my access to the games has been lessened. I started working in a bar, so there was no hope of keeping the results a secret until I got home. The 2011 final broke my heart a little. I've become more cynical about the NHL as a league. I have issues with the Canucks' management decisions. I found myself more interested in fantasy hockey than the real thing, drinking beers with Olson long after we had closed the bar, excited for our fantasy draft, but me knowing that the box scores would be more compelling than watching the games.

But I always had the Twins.

I think the number of games I watched start to finish this season was about 7. Life is busy; I prioritized other things; I watched a lot of Raptors games. 2 of those 7 were these final two games, that magical, surreal last home game against Arizona, and Saturday night, bearing witness to the end of two amazing careers.

I didn't think I'd take it this hard. I started writing this during the first period on Saturday, and I started weeping as soon as the shootout ended. I honestly don't know what my hockey fandom is without them. My favourite Canuck is the Twins; it always has been.

My fantasy team name this season was named after the Twins. It wasn't because I thought they were retiring: Sedin Ambrose was just a fun wrestling pun to me. Tonight, I just sealed victory in my fantasy league, for the first time ever. Tonight, the Sedins finished their careers.

I know I'll figure out how to be a Canucks fan again eventually, but the reason I became a Canucks fan just retired. I am heartbroken. I am grateful.

#ThankYouSedins