Monday, April 12, 2010

Congratulations Hank!

This weekend saw the end of the two scoring titles in the NHL and they both went right down to the wire. Ultimately, Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos tied for the Rocket Richard trophy with 51 goals apiece, while Henrik Sedin banished the Vancouver demons of 2002/2003 that saw Markus Naslund pipped for the Art Ross trophy on the final day of the season.

This time though, the Canucks wouldn't be denied as it became quite obvious early on in the game against the Flames what their game plan was; don't shoot the puck unless the pass came from Henrik.

Henrik became the first Canuck player to win the Art Ross trophy.

He ended up with four assists to move three points ahead of Ovechkin, then had to wait for the Sunday games to be over before knowing if he'd done enough. Yes, 'the great eight' played ten less games this year, yes both he and Crosby scored a lot more goals than Henrik...but Henrik's red hot form around Christmas proved to be the difference in the end.

Whether or not this lifts a somewhat flat Vancouver team going into the playoffs remains to be seen, but, for today at least, they know they have the best player in the league.

2 comments:

  1. Tez, good hockey insights. Unfortunately for the Canucks, they'll have to go through the Blackhawks and Sharks.

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  2. have to get past LA first...not sold on SJ or Chicago right now to be honest. The Ducks knocked out SJ last year while the BH goalie is a little suspect as of late. I think Detroit are probably the best bet to make the Cup again.

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