When Derek Jeter announced his impending retirement from baseball in 2014, he embarked on a long farewell tour, where each ballpark honoured him in some way. There were speeches, copious amounts of gifts, and overwrought black-and-white commercials. It was so over-the-top that it eventually got sickening.
We won’t see any such thing from the Sedins. Their letter to the Players’ Tribune left the status of their careers up in the air. Maybe this is their final season in the NHL; maybe it isn’t. The Sedins just want to play hockey and are not interested in making this season a farewell tour.
“We’re only 36. We’re not 42,” says Henrik. “It’s not a farewell tour. That’s the first time I’ve heard about that and hopefully the last time.”
On Monday, Daniel hinted that this wouldn’t be their final season. “Our belief is that we can come back and be good players and hopefully we can force the Canucks to want to re-sign us,” he said. “There’s no timeline. After the season we’ll sit down and talk and see how they and we feel.”
In fact, the Sedins think there’s a chance the Canucks will be significantly better this season than people expect. Their goal remains, as ever, to make the playoffs. They see their age and experience, as well as that of the Canucks’ off-season signings, as a boon.
“You need some older guys in the mix too,” says Daniel. “The young guys, they need someone to learn from and watch. I think [Thomas] Vanek and Sam [Gagner] coming in, they know what it takes. I think it’s a good mix this year, which is why I think the young guys are going to take another few steps this year.”
“I believe we’re on the way up again,” he added.
The Sedins have always been optimists. Their entire style of play has always been full of optimism, attempting passes that others would cynically dismiss as impossible, then never getting too down when the impossible pass falls short of success. At the same time, Henrik has a realistic attitude about their chances in the coming season, and knows that a lot of things have to go right for the playoffs to be a realistic possibility.
“I think injuries are going to be less of a factor this year, because of the depth we have,” says Henrik, hinting at the young prospects likely to fill the ranks in Utica. “The special teams have to be better, both power play and PK, and I think with the guys we brought in, both at the back end and also Gagner and Vanek...Burmistrov is really skilled on the power play too. It’s going to be a big difference for us.”
While the power play skills of Gagner and Vanek have been well-publicized, it’s surprising to hear him mention Burmistrov. He had four power play goals in just 26 games with the Arizona Coyotes to end last season, but he had just one power play goal in his entire career prior to that.
Perhaps Henrik is still as optimistic as ever.
That includes optimism about their future: the Sedins seem certain that they have gas left in the tank, through this season and potentially beyond. They know that they’ll need to take on a lesser role as time progresses, but are insistent that they will not simply step aside: the younger players need to earn their stripes.
So whether this is their final season or not remains undecided, but Jim Benning made it clear that he would be happy to bring them back.
“They’re such great people in the room and they’re so good for our younger players,” says Benning. “They set the example on how hard you have to work on a day-to-day basis to be successful. If that’s what they decide to do, I’d be happy if they come back for another year."
