Sedin comparables

[discordant concord]

Now that the Sedins are now first-ballot HHOFers it's time to reflect...

Which player, or players, do you think Daniel and Henrik are most similar to in terms of playing style?

And please do not pick a Sedin

Click to read more...

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Honestly? No one.

I’ve never seen a player (or players) that can execute their cycle game as flawlessly and as consistently as they did. They are total unicorns in that they could do, as Brian Burke put it, “that weird, wonderful Twin shit”.

 

[VanillaCoke]

I can't think of anyone else either

 

[Nolan Bombgardener]

They're pretty unique. Slap pass, deliberately icing the puck for the other twin to chase down for a scoring chance...not sure I've seen anyone else do these plays before them.

 

[iceburg]

They were brilliant at what they were good at together and there aren't any comparables.

TBH Henrik was a slow puck distributor that couldn't shoot. Daniel was a slow winger with an above average shot. I honestly think that individually they were middle six forwards.

But, and it's a BIG but, together they weren't 1+1=3, they were 1+1=1000000

 

[discordant concord]

" TBH Henrik was a slow puck distributor that couldn't shoot. Daniel was a slow winger with an above average shot. I honestly think that individually they were middle six forwards."

Very true but Henrik was quite decent in 09-10 when we lost Daniel early in the season.

 

[kcunac]

They were brilliant at what they were good at together and there aren't any comparables.

TBH Henrik was a slow puck distributor that couldn't shoot. Daniel was a slow winger with an above average shot. I honestly think that individually they were middle six forwards.

But, and it's a BIG but, together they weren't 1+1=3, they were 1+1=1000000

That’s a bit of an exaggeration . They each possessed elite vision and hockey IQ

 

[Vector]

Sedins played a similar stylistic game to Jagr, actually. Lots of puck protection and cycling. Hold on to the puck as long as possible and wait for the seems to form.

 

[iceburg]

That’s a bit of an exaggeration . They each possessed elite vision and hockey IQ

I don't necessarily disagree. And they were the best conditioned athletes on their club and among the best in the league. They just didn't each have that explosive game that you see from elite scorers and play makers. Their hockey IQ and vision was elite in large part because they could read each other's minds.

 

[Vector]

I don't necessarily disagree. And they were the best conditioned athletes on their club and among the best in the league. They just didn't each have that explosive game that you see from elite scorers and play makers. Their hockey IQ and vision was elite in large part because they could read each other's minds.

It wall ties together. Since they were so well conditioned and knew exactly where to go (this is also why Burrows and various defencemen worked so well with them) they could maintain possession and exhaust opponents. The longer they cycled the more mistakes were bound to happen. Everything the Sedins did was calculated and worked together.

 

[iceburg]

It wall ties together. Since they were so well conditioned and knew exactly where to go (this is also why Burrows and various defencemen worked so well with them) they could maintain possession and exhaust opponents. The longer they cycled the more mistakes were bound to happen. Everything the Sedins did was calculated and worked together.

Exactly. And teams had fits trying to defend it.

I remember watching "the shift" live. Nothing like it.

 

[kcunac]

I don't necessarily disagree. And they were the best conditioned athletes on their club and among the best in the league. They just didn't each have that explosive game that you see from elite scorers and play makers. Their hockey IQ and vision was elite in large part because they could read each other's minds.

They certainly thought the game and reacted to situations in the same way, which is why they always knew were one another was.

 

[rypper]

How many more thinly veiled disparaging Sedin posts are you going to make today?

 

[Wry n Ginger]

Stupid question is stupid.

Shut this thread down and delete it.

 

[discordant concord]

Stupid question is stupid.

Shut this thread down and delete it.

Let me rephrase this.

If the Sedins were split up, which players would they most resemble?

 

[TryamkinPleaseReturn]

Yeah I don't know about middle sixers. They obviously had a rare combination of skills. Usually when hockey players are at that high of a level, they are at least good skaters and usually great or elite skaters. The Sedins were below average. Their collection of skills is so unusual if you look at it, you might not expect an NHLer

- below average skating speed
- below average acceleration
- average edges
- well under 200 lbs
- not the hardest shot but highly accurate
- elite vision
- elite hockey IQ
- elite fitness

It's such a unique and unexpected combination of individual skills, but it obviously can produce Art Ross level talent. Similar skill package, interestingly, as Gretzky, another insane endurance-athlete. Also like Gretzky, their shots were very accurate -they both did extremely well in accuracy skills competitions. I guess when you have those two skills, vision and IQ, not just great, but elite, you can be surprisingly good.

One other note, they each performed similarly well if not better when they were separated from each other (Daniel's Art Ross year when Henrik was injured for example) so it wasn't just that they were amazing because there were two of them.

 

[VanJack]

Henrik and Daniel were living proof that hockey is still a 'team game'. They were great players even when the other twin was out of the lineup with an injury. In fact I think Henrik won his only scoring title when Daniel was injured for the last month and a half of one season.

But together, they were greater than as individuals. I know some brain-dead players on opposing teams ridiculed the twins and their cycle game. But there were never two players in NHL history who passed the puck into space before the other twin even arrived. Basically unstoppable.

It wasn't mental telepathy, although is sometimes seemed like it. It was just a life-time of playing together in backyard rinks and arenas all over Sweden.

How many players in NHL history have ever spent their entire careers on the same line with the same line-mate? Can't really think on any. So in that sense there are no 'comparable' players.

 

[discordant concord]

Yeah I don't know about middle sixers. They obviously had a rare combination of skills. Usually when hockey players are at that high of a level, they are at least good skaters and usually great or elite skaters. The Sedins were below average. Their collection of skills is so unusual if you look at it, you might not expect an NHLer

- below average skating speed
- below average acceleration
- average edges
- well under 200 lbs
- not the hardest shot but highly accurate
- elite vision
- elite hockey IQ
- elite fitness

It's such a unique and unexpected combination of individual skills, but it obviously can produce Art Ross level talent. Similar skill package, interestingly, as Gretzky, another insane endurance-athlete. Also like Gretzky, their shots were very accurate -they both did extremely well in accuracy skills competitions. I guess when you have those two skills, vision and IQ, not just great, but elite, you can be surprisingly good.

One other note, they each performed similarly well if not better when they were separated from each other (Daniel's Art Ross year when Henrik was injured for example) so it wasn't just that they were amazing because there were two of them.

I compared Henrik to Gretkzy and was basically called a moron. I think when it comes to playmaking at times they are quite comparable. Obviously Henrik is no Gretzky, but he could be lethal behind the opponent's net

 

[Play]

I can't think of anyone else either

That’s a first

 

[MS]

Henrik was very, very similar to Pittsburgh Ron Francis.

Daniel was quite similar to Hartford Ron Francis.

 

[biturbo19]

Honestly? No one.

I’ve never seen a player (or players) that can execute their cycle game as flawlessly and as consistently as they did. They are total unicorns in that they could do, as Brian Burke put it, “that weird, wonderful Twin shit”.

Yeah. There just isn't a comparable that makes any sense. They were truly unique players. I think that's a big component of why they're both HoFers. They were a unique wrinkle in the fabric of the NHL game for a lot of years, and happened to be absolutely elite while doing it.


The HoF to me, is as much about uniqueness and compelling stories as it is about "compiling stats". The Sedins also did the latter. But their bigger contribution to the game that will live in infamy, is in the former. The way they played the game completely unlike anyone else. Playing the Canucks while the Sedins were in their prime was such a unique challenge. It's also one of those things that isn't likely to ever be touched. There are a lot of players who would love to find a partner in novice hockey that they can build insane chemistry with and play on the same line all the way up through an extensive NHL career. But it just doesn't happen. It's a crazy anomaly.

 

[RobertKron]

There are some parallels with Crosby, obviously speaking stylistically here, in that they approached the game kind of as "super-grinders" rather than just relying on beating you with overwhelming skill or physical abilities. Like, yes, they were huge talents and had amazing vision and IQ, but they also made a lot of their success by being just plain absolutely relentless down low and on the walls.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Only comp I can think of:

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

as a slow playmaking center with no shot and no identical twin brother to play with, marc savard finished in the top ten in scoring three times in four years

that's the floor for henrik's peak, even wtihout daniel

 

[Shareefruck]

They were brilliant at what they were good at together and there aren't any comparables.

TBH Henrik was a slow puck distributor that couldn't shoot. Daniel was a slow winger with an above average shot. I honestly think that individually they were middle six forwards.

But, and it's a BIG but, together they weren't 1+1=3, they were 1+1=1000000

Middle 6 is a bit absurd. As I recall, Henrik was still close to a PPG player when Daniel was injured, playing with Burrows and I think either Hansen or Samuelsson.