Friday, September 17, 2010

Every Goal Henrik Sedin Scored Last Season

These two guys have the unfair advantage of having planned many of their plays in a womb.

An obvious statement: last year was a breakout season for the Sedins. Henrik Sedin won the NHL scoring race, was named the Sporting News player of the year, and won some nifty hardware. Daniel Sedin got to be his brother. It was their best offensive year, as they combined for 197 points--58 of them goals (29 apiece). For a week and a half, we have been reviewing every goal scored by the Canucks roster, player by player. We covered Mason Raymond, Ryan Kesler, and Mikael Samuelsson before shifting our focus to defense, where we covered Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo, Alex Edler & Kevin Bieksa, and then the rest of them. Today, in twin posts (pun gleefully intended), we at PiTB have dedicated Friday both Sedins. Below you will find every goal Henrik Sedin scored last season. Wrong twin? Daniel is over here.


1. Oct. 5 vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets
Henrik's first goal of the season comes on a loose puck in front of Steve Mason (a recurring theme from last season). His efforts to get to that puck first are pretty admirable. Note, as usual, Alex Burrows in front of the net doing what he usually does: causing havoc, performing mild feats of interference (one two guys at once!), and falling down.

2. Oct. 7 vs. the Montreal Canadiens
Henrik's second goal is a lot like the first, but he shows a lot of poise and patience stickhandling this one into the net. A lesser player (Steve Bernier) just whacks at it. Daniel's shot looks like a lot like Ryan Kesler's bread and butter. Think it's a set play?

3. Oct. 7 vs. the Montreal Canadiens
Henrik's deke here has become a fairly commonplace shootout move: the leg kick followed by the move to the backhand. But, that he does it in-game while streaking down the wing is fairly impressive. Think if that's Daniel instead of Steve Bernier with him, Henrik passes it? I do.

4. Oct. 25 vs. the Edmonton Oilers
This is a pretty textbook tip. What's the theme here? Mikael Samuelsson's typically ill-advised shooting. Who in their right mind thinks that's a time to try a wrist shot from the point? This guy.

5. Oct. 27 vs. the Detroit Red Wings (at 0:05 of clip)
You'd be forgiven for thinking this was the same play as Henrik's goal against Columbus. It's almost identical, and the third time in five clips that Henrik's been the first one to a loose puck in front. My theory: the Sedins simply see the puck better and think faster than most players.

6. Oct. 27 vs. the Detroit Red Wings
I've gone on and on about Alex Edler's power play passing. Here it is again. Henrik's shot is a thing of beauty, especially considering the angle he's shooting from and how quickly he gets it away.

7. Nov. 3 vs. the New York Rangers
Maybe the best empty-net goal of the season. Burrows' pass to start the 2-on-1 is a subtly impressive bit of work, and you can also see the Sedins' speed and passing ability doesn't shut down just because the net is empty. They can't help but be beautiful hockey players.

8. Nov. 5 vs. the Minnesota Wild
A rare slapshot goal for Henrik, and it probably shouldn't have gone in. But why does he have an open shooting lane? Because Nick Schultz is not expecting the lovely Alex Burrows back-pass, and it freezes him. Burrows is one of the best shorthanded players in the league, by the way.

9. Nov. 10 vs. the St. Louis Blues
The subtle brilliance of this is the way Henrik receives the pass and then fluidly changes his course. Steve Mason, who loses the puck to a great forecheck by Ryan Kesler, thinks Henrik's going to take the puck across the crease. Instead, Henrik goes back to the short side and finds a little room.

10. Nov. 14 vs. the Colorado Avalanche
The highlight here is Raymond and Kesler's communication. Kesler slaps his stick on the ice to tell MayRay he's ready, and Raymond, who has frozen his man with speed across the blue line and then a sudden stop, makes a perfect feed. It happens in a flash and Henrik is first to the rebound, as usual.

11. Nov. 14 vs. the Colorado Avalanche
Again we see a goal created by a good forecheck. This time it's Mason Raymond, who beats Anderson to the puck and centers for Henrik. Henrik tries a deke (he'll get it in a later goal), but Anderson pokes the puck away. Luckily, it flips right over him and in.

12. Nov. 14 vs. the Colorado Avalanche
I've talked about Edler's power play passing, but this isn't that. Edler whiffs on a slapshot here and, incredibly, it goes right to Henrik. The accidental fakeout freezes the netminder and Henrik makes a great shot to beat him for the hat trick goal.

13. Nov. 20 vs. the Colorado Avalanche
Again it's the pass of Alex Burrows that sets up this shot. It's a wonder his passing is so underrated, but I guarantee you it worked in his favour last season. In so many of these clips, he makes an incredible pass, and the other team is typically so shocked they find themselves completely unable to recover. Henrik with the tap-in.

14. Nov. 26 vs. the Los Angeles Kings (at 4:46 of clip)
Again, it's Henrik on the rebound. I'm amazed at how quickly he gets to loose pucks. I'm also amazed at how little I've seen of Daniel so far. I recognize it's because Daniel was hurt all through November; it's still strange because Henrik was so present in Daniel's clips. That should start to change going forward now, because Daniel returned from injury on November 22nd.

15. Dec. 16 vs. the Anaheim Ducks
There's Daniel. He makes a great pass to Henrik, who is the trailer in this play. Note again that Burrows is right there, making a lane by going hard to the net, and then setting a screen so Hiller can't see the shot.

16. Dec. 22 vs. the Nashville Predators
Yes, more Daniel. Burrows does a great job here stopping the puck on the wall, and then it's some wizardous sedinerie as Daniel makes a no-look back pass on a tight angle to set Henrik up for a tap-in. Ridiculous.

17. Dec. 26 vs. the Edmonton Oilers
This is an empty-netter after some great forechecking. I'm amused at how Burrows passes this puck primarily because the referee is doing a great job cutting off his lane to the net. It's probably Stephane Auger.

18. Dec. 27 vs. the Calgary Flames
Henrik with another rebound goal on the power play. I'm interested in how Daniel's PP goals are typically on passes from Henrik, but Henrik's goals are typically on rebounds he gets to first.

19. Dec. 31 vs. the St. Louis Blues
Watch the replay on this clip. Daniel's stickhandling and passing are great, but Henrik does an incredible job receiving the pass and pulling it to his forehand in heavy traffic. Mason stops the first shot, but Henrik is--surprise!--first to the rebound. One thing the Sedins are great at is sniffing aroiund the net for rebounds after the initial shot. Even on breakaways, they never pass the net until the play is dead or the puck's behind it.

20. Jan. 5 vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets
Is it safe to say that the Sedins have remarkable chemistry? They should; they share a brain. Their passing is remarkable. Consider that nobody else touches the puck in this clip.

21. Jan. 16 vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins
Here, Henrik tries that little pass out from behind the net to Jannik Hansen, but he gets lucky and the puck never gets there. Instead, it banks off John Curry and in for his 21st goal of the season.

22. Jan. 23 vs. the Chicago Blackhawks
We see here a lot of things we've seen before: Alex Burrows does a great job to steal the puck and then makes a tape-to-tape pass across the blue line to Henrik. Henrik beats his man outside and takes the puck hard to the net, where he's stopped. He bats at the puck on the rebound, then goes around the net to be first one to the puck when it squirts over there. Again, his quickness on loose pucks in front stands out.

23. Jan. 23 vs. the Chicago Blackhawks
Daniel and Henrik switch roles for this goal, a typical Sedin tally. Daniel camps out behind the net, finds Henrik sneaking in, and feeds him for a quick shot in close.

24. Jan. 25 vs. the Buffalo Sabres
Yet another Burrows pass to start the play. The deke that Henrik pulls off here is the same deke he was trying to pull off on Nov. 14th vs. Colorado (goal #11). This time he does it. I find it interesting that it's the exact same deke Mason Raymond pulled off on a 2-on-1 with Henrik on Dec. 18th. Clearly these guys share a locker room.

25. Jan. 30 vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs
Again, it's Burrows in the thick of things here, tying up his man, getting off the original shot. Henrik again shows his great hands and measured approach in close, as he gets two whacks at this puck before anybody even touches him.

26. Mar. 7 vs. the Nashville Predators
An empty net goal to close out a game in Nashville.

27. Mar. 10 vs. the Phoenix Coyotes
Have I said enough about Henrik's hands in close? Juxtapose his approach to Ryan Kesler's. Kesler goes crazy on loose pucks in close; he just beats away at them until they go in. Henrik is much more calculating, taking control of them, stickhandling, and guiding them past goaltenders.

28. Mar. 14 vs. the Calgary Flames
More of the same here. Nearly every Henrik Sedin goal is scored this way. Henrik's backhand here is an impressive showing of skill. If you're wondering how to stop the Sedins, keep them away from the net, I guess?

29. Mar. 30 vs. the Phoenix Coyotes
I'm amazed at how many times in these clips the Canucks have made Ilya Brzygalov look kind of foolish. Here we see Breezy's generous contribution to Henrik's point totals with an unforgivable giveaway behind the net. As usual, Henrik converts it into a scoring chance before anybody else even touches him.



Want more Sedins? PiTB's got you covered. Here are their top 10 plays from last season. Wondering why you don't see them more often? Qris thinks it's because they're not sexy. Want to see them in a commercial for the Swedish NHL 11? Right here, pal. Want to see Henrik Sedin photoshopped into an ad for Death Race 2000? We're right there. Tell your friends about Pass it to Bulis.

3 comments:

  1. Henrik's goal vs Pittsburgh was an obvious bank attempt. If he wanted to pass it to Hanson he would have made a quick pass along the ice, or a saucer pass, but defnitely not a 4-feet-high pass.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My favourite part of his final goal of the season is the ref's goal signal. He seems almost embarrassed to be pointing at the net.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Uh, well, it's obviously in, so... yeah, you know, goal. Or whatever."

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...