Fellow NHLers offer praise for Sedins after retirement announcement

Alex Edler, Jake Virtanen and Troy Stecher discuss what Daniel and Henrik Sedin meant to the Vancouver Canucks.

After 17 seasons and a combined 2,106 points in the NHL, Henrik and Daniel Sedin have decided to move on from the league they’ve long dominated after the conclusion of the 2017-18 season.

The Vancouver legends announced their decision Monday, leaving the Canucks faithful only three more games to soak in the talents of two of their franchise’s finest.

While the club’s fans are sure to feel the sting of losing their star duo, a number of the pair’s NHL contemporaries offered their own thoughts on watching the twins walk away, seeing them remain effective into their 30’s, and appreciating their impact on the game.

Patrick Kane:

“They’re still effective players, so it’ll be sad to see them go,” Kane told reporters Monday. “I know the league will miss them and what they brought to the game. Their effectiveness with the give-and-go and being able to make it more a 2-on-1 game than a 1-on-1 game is something that helped change the game to what it is now. So they’ll definitely be missed. They had great careers, and two special players.”

Jonathan Toews:

“They’ve both had incredible careers,” Toews told reporters. “At this age, as young as the game is, they’re still able to make incredible plays, go out there and make a difference for their team every night. It’ll be a relief not to play against those guys going forward. I’m sure they both feel they want to go out on top, and feel like they can probably still play another handful of years.”

Mark Giordano:

“On the ice, real true professionals. Really tough to play against, really used each other and were such a dominating duo for so many years in the league. They were competitors, hard to play against, but always carried themselves the right way,” Giordano told the media Monday.

“They used each other so well on the cycle, behind the net. So many different plays that are used in the league today — they were the ones who brought in the shot-tip on the power play in the high slot. I think they were one of the first duos to use the drop (pass) on the power play, stuff like that. They’re great players.”

Henrik Lundqvist:

“When they came up and broke through in the Swedish Elite League, I was 15 or 16 at the time, two years younger than them,” Henrik Lundqvist told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. “I think nobody had seen the way they play before. At least when I grew up, I had never seen that before, two guys hold on to the puck the way they did and dominate games the way they did. They just took the Swedish Elite League by storm. …They’re Vancouver. They’ve been there for so long and they’ve done so much for that organization for so long.”

Toby Enstrom:

“What kind of impresses me the most is that they’ve always been the same, they haven’t changed at all in the way they treat people,” Enstrom told Rosen. “They are so respected because of that. What they’ve done in hockey is hard to describe in words. But most of all, it’s how they are off the ice, yes private, but they treat everyone the same. …I watched them play back home when I was young, so it’s kind of a sad thing to see them leave hockey. But they are two guys that if they feel they don’t have anything more to give, then (they) won’t keep doing it and that’s what we respect about them.”

Roberto Luongo:

Brock Boeser:

Eddie Lack:

[snippet id=3967267]

Scottie Upshall:

Kevin Bieksa:

Michael Grabner:

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.