When Derek Jeter announced his impending retirement from baseball in 2014, he embarked on a long farewell tour, where each ballpark honoured him in some way. There were speeches, copious amounts of gifts, and . It was so over-the-top that it eventually got sickening.
We won鈥檛 see any such thing from the Sedins. left the status of their careers up in the air. Maybe this is their final season in the NHL; maybe it isn鈥檛. The Sedins just want to play hockey and are not interested in making this season a farewell tour.
鈥淲e鈥檙e only 36. We鈥檙e not 42,鈥� says Henrik. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a farewell tour. That鈥檚 the first time I鈥檝e heard about that and hopefully the last time.鈥�
On Monday, . 鈥淥ur belief is that we can come back and be good players and hopefully we can force the Canucks to want to re-sign us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no timeline. After the season we鈥檒l sit down and talk and see how they and we feel.鈥�
In fact, the Sedins think there鈥檚 a chance the Canucks will be significantly better this season than people expect. Their goal remains, as ever, to make the playoffs. They see their age and experience, as well as that of the Canucks鈥� off-season signings, as a boon.
鈥淵ou need some older guys in the mix too,鈥� says Daniel. 鈥淭he young guys, they need someone to learn from and watch. I think [Thomas] Vanek and Sam [Gagner] coming in, they know what it takes. I think it鈥檚 a good mix this year, which is why I think the young guys are going to take another few steps this year.鈥�
鈥淚 believe we鈥檙e on the way up again,鈥� he added.
The Sedins have always been optimists. Their entire style of play has always been full of optimism, attempting passes that others would cynically dismiss as impossible, then never getting too down when the impossible pass falls short of success. At the same time, Henrik has a realistic attitude about their chances in the coming season, and knows that a lot of things have to go right for the playoffs to be a realistic possibility.
鈥淚 think injuries are going to be less of a factor this year, because of the depth we have,鈥� says Henrik, hinting at the young prospects likely to fill the ranks in Utica. 鈥淭he special teams have to be better, both power play and PK, and I think with the guys we brought in, both at the back end and also Gagner and Vanek...Burmistrov is really skilled on the power play too. It鈥檚 going to be a big difference for us.鈥�
While the power play skills of Gagner and Vanek have been well-publicized, it鈥檚 surprising to hear him mention Burmistrov. He had four power play goals in just 26 games with the Arizona Coyotes to end last season, but he had just one power play goal in his entire career prior to that.
Perhaps Henrik is still as optimistic as ever.
That includes optimism about their future: the Sedins seem certain that they have gas left in the tank, through this season and potentially beyond. They know that they鈥檒l need to take on a lesser role as time progresses, but are insistent that they will not simply step aside: the younger players need to earn their stripes.
So whether this is their final season or not remains undecided, but Jim Benning made it clear that he would be happy to bring them back.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e such great people in the room and they鈥檙e so good for our younger players,鈥� says Benning. 鈥淭hey set the example on how hard you have to work on a day-to-day basis to be successful. If that鈥檚 what they decide to do, I鈥檇 be happy if they come back for another year."
