Player of the Year: Henrik Sedin

Craig Custance - SportingNews.com

Douglas Murray's memories of the Sedin twins date back to when he was 15 and competing in hockey tournaments in his home country of Sweden. And now, 15 years later, he's almost confident he can tell them apart.

It started when he was their teammate at the Vancouver Olympics. Murray says he's not sure whether it was because they were dressing differently or because people shared enough small tips on how to tell Henrik and Daniel apart. But there was a change.

"I wouldn't say if you threw them in here I might not be wrong -- I've got a 50-50 chance," the Sharks defenseman says. "But I started to see more differences."
On the ice, everyone else did, too.

After eight seasons of nearly identical stats, Henrik Sedin broke away from Daniel this year. All because of a broken foot.

In October, Daniel took a shot off his left foot and was sidelined for six weeks. It resulted in the longest stretch of NHL games Henrik has played without his brother. It wasn't ideal for the Canucks, but it was a chance for Henrik to prove the Sedin twins are more than a package deal.

"When I was out, he really wanted to show himself and all the people, too, that he could play without me," Daniel says. "When I came back, he kept playing the same way. That's probably what brought him to the next level."

Henrik's next level was career bests in goals (29) and assists (83). He finished with a career-high 112 points, most in the NHL.

And many of those numbers were achieved without his identical twin brother. No other NHL duo operates on the same eerie, almost supernatural wavelength the Sedins are on when they play together.

"They play blindfolded, basically," Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa says.

Says Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Nick Boynton: "Some of the things they try that work are amazing and would get a lot of guys benched and taken out of the lineup. But it works for them -- and it's fun to watch."

In the 18 games Henrik played while Daniel recovered, he had 18 points, 10 of which came on goals. The playmaking center was shooting more, and by the end of the season, Henrik was being mentioned in the same conversation as Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.

According to the votes he got from 108 of his NHL peers in SN player of the year balloting, he was better than both.

"Some guys thought it was the two of them or nothing," says Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, a fellow Swede. "He really proved everyone wrong."

This story appears in May 20's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only digital sports daily, sign up today.

Staff writer Craig Custance covers the NHL for Sporting News. E-mail him at ccustance@sportingnews.com.

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