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Vancouver Canucks Fall at Young Stars, Daniel & Henrik Sedin Talk Future

September 17, 2016, 1:38 PM ET [211 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Vancouver Canucks kicked off their Young Stars tournament on Friday night with a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Here's a quick rundown of the lineups. First, the Oilers:




Now, the Canucks:




I didn't get to watch the game as closely as I would have liked, but I did see enough to know this: Jesse Puljujarvi has made a nice recovery from his spring injury and showed the same stuff that earned him MVP honours at the 2016 World Junior Championship.

Puljujarvi was named first star on Friday, posting two goals, an assist, and a plus-three with five shots on goal. Beautiful individual effort on his second goal:




The Oilers also got a nice performance out of their other Finnish prospect, Markus Niemelainen. He's a 6'5" defenseman who was drafted in the third round last June, 63rd overall. Niemelainen spent last season with he Saginaw Spirit of the OHL and opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal, just 4:07 into the first period.

Meanwhile, the Canucks' Finnish defensive prize made a pretty good showing, too. In the Vancouver Sun, Jason Botchford described fifth-overall pick Olli Juolevi as having played "a smart, and smooth game...It was as quiet, impressive and promising."

Not to be outdone, Troy Stecher showed that he's determined to live up to his words and make an impression. Playing on Juolevi's right side, Stecher recorded NINE of the Canucks' 30 shots in their loss and was named the game's third star.

Not a great debut for Thatcher Demko, who gave up four goals on 32 shots, but he didn't get a whole lot of help. He looks beyond composed on this stop, with plenty of traffic headed toward the net.




Coach Travis Green was complimentary towards Demko in his postgame comments. We don't get many specifics here but overall, he seems pleased with what he saw from his players.




Just one game today in Penticton, as Calgary takes on Edmonton at 4:30 p.m. The Canucks are back on the ice against Winnipeg on Sunday at 2:00.

So, let's turn our attention back to the World Cup of Hockey. The preliminary round games kick off today, and they promise to be intense. Just three games will determine which two teams from each group will advance to the semifinal—and they're playing NHL rules, so we could see some three-point games to make the group standings extra interesting.

Jannik Hansen, Luca Sbisa and Team Europe kick things off at 12:30 today against Team USA, then the Canadians face off against the Czech Republic at 5:00.

Team Sweden's first game will be on Sunday at noon against the Russians. The Sedin twins made some headlines on Friday thanks to this article from Mark Spector at Sportsnet.

I don't think I've ever heard Daniel and Henrik be more forthright or specific about their futures but when you boil down all the quotes, we're right back to "anything can happen."

They say that they expect one more contract in their future after they play out the last two years of their current contract. By that point, they'll be 38. General Fanager has a list of signed NHL players that's easily sortable by age. The only forwards who are 38 or older with contracts for the upcoming season—who will not be on long-term injured reserve—are Shane Doan, Matt Cullen and Shawn Thornton (39), Eric Boulton (40) and, of course, 44-year-old Jaromir Jagr. It's not out of the question that the twins could still be productive in two years' time, but I'd say the odds aren't in their favour.

"If we’re going to win," Henrik tells Spector, "we’re going to win in Vancouver. That’s the only option. But who knows? We’re not going to stay if we can’t help the team, or if they don’t want us. Who knows what happens?"

After watching the departure of players from their core group like Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis and Chris Higgins, the twins know something something similar could eventually happen to them. "If they don’t want us there, then we’ve got to make a decision," Henrik reasoned. "We’re not going to retire because we don’t want to play for another team."

One thing we have heard before—the Sedins are more likely now to finish out their careers in the NHL than to go back to Sweden for one last hurrah. "If you’d have asked us 10 years ago," Henrik said, "I would have said we would move back. Ask me now, and I think we’re leaning towards staying in Vancouver. We’ve been there now 17 years almost, and we were in Sweden for 18 years."

When asked about the Canucks' future, both twins put on brave faces.

“A lot of people think we’re years away,” Henrik said. “We’re not that far away.”

“Vancouver -- we are heading up again, I think,” adds Daniel. “In today’s NHL, one or two young players come in and can help, it can change everything.”
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