The Best of the Sedins, 2010-11 (10-6)

PITB's first post ever was a top 5 countdown of the best Sedin goals of last season, posted exactly a year ago today. We thought, in honour of our first birthday, and the fact that the Sedins are totally balls, it was time to return to our roots. What are blogs for if not for lists?

Unlike last year, there is no de facto number one, but there are about fifteen plays worthy of a spot in the top five. As a result, we've doubled the list, and will now be counting down the top ten Sedin plays of 2010-11. Be warned: this list is highly subjective. Last week's post, in which we shared 12 wizardous candidates, proved consensus on this issue to be impossible. As a result, we just decided to go with our gut, and I can safely say that my gut's never steered me wrong (apart from the time it asked for a bacon sundae).

Anyway. Here are plays 10 - 6. Check back here at 4pm sharp for the final five.

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10 December 23, vs the Columbus Blue Jackets
A lot of people fail to realize that Daniel Sedin is a power forward who loves to comes out from behind with a guy draped all over him. Here, we see him actually draw the defender, wait for contact, then make an incredible back pass right into the slot for Henrik. Commentator John Garrett simply exhales. I imagine his sentiments are echoed by most of Ohio.

9 December 28, vs the Philadelphia Flyers
This is actually a give-and-go between Alex Burrows and Daniel Sedin, but it still counts as Sedinery. Burr gets a pass because he spends a lot of time under Sedin tutelage. His patience is impressive here, as is Kimmo Timonen's draw to the button.

8 January 07, vs the Edmonton Oilers
This ludicrous lob play was utilized the Sedins to start a number of breakouts, but this is the prettiest finish. After Burrows lofts it over two zones, the twins go in two-on-one. Theo Peckham's job, in this situation, is to take away the pass, but the Sedins still manage to make two. Henrik's saucer pass is absolutely perfect, as is Daniel's backhand deke for the goal.

7 April 09, vs the Calgary Flames
The most recent goal on our list comes on a partial breakaway. Think about that when you watch it happen. Rather than streak to the net, Daniel curls away, then makes a ridiculous backpass to Henrik that splits three Calgary defenders. Henrik then makes a beautiful one-touch pass to Ryan Kesler, who finishes the play by one-timing the puck.

6 December 31, vs the Dallas Stars
This is one of the finest executed powerplays you'll ever see. Daniel and Henrik break down the Stars' box like it's the day after Christmas, first with an obscenely high tape-to-tape saucer pass, then a back pass to Alex Edler. Before the Stars realize they've shifted about a foot from the center of the ice, Edler finds Henrik, who pots a one-timer from a difficult angle. it's so fluid it's ridiculous.

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10 - 6
5 - 1

Henrik Sedin Scored the Goal of the Year and Nobody Noticed

Do you remember this goal? Have you seen it before? It's amazing. Textbook Wizardous Sedinerie. It might be the best goal of this NHL season, it happened only one week ago, and yet nobody's talking about it.

Let me take you through what you're seeing: That's Henrik Sedin there, outskating two Shark players to turn an innocuous one-on-one into a sudden two-on-one. That's Daniel Sedin, taking the puck parallel to the blue line, perfectly timing his meandering entry into the zone with Henrik's sudden burst of speed, then making a tape-to-tape saucer pass to spring his brother in alone. And finally, that's Henrik Sedin again, drawing Antti Niemi well past his goalmouth, then wizardously dragging the puck to the backhand and sliding it into an empty net.

Henrik's move is an an incredible piece of stickhandling and poise that, up until now, was native only to the shootout. Peter Forsberg is famous for it. Henrik Zetterberg did it once, too. But, they did it in the shootout, with time, forethought, and healthy dose of space. Henrik Sedin pulled it off in-game, at top speed, surrounded by defenders.

And nobody's talking about it.

Canucks 10K: Honouring the One-Goal Guys

Without Yannick Tremblay's one goal, the Canucks would still sit at 9999.

In case you missed it, Daniel Sedin's third period goal Wednesday against the Calgary Flames was the 10,000th regular-season goal in Canucks' history. These 10,000 goals were scored by 354 different players over the Canucks' forty-year history, and I'm sure we can name more than a few of the guys. Markus Naslund. Trevor Linden. Stan Smyl. Thomas Gradin. You know, the stars.

But any stat sheet, let alone a list of goalscorers, is incomplete without a perusal of the cellar-dwellers. In this case, the one-goal guys. Some might say they're not important, but that's crazy talk. Without the one-goal guys, the Canucks would be sitting at 9,957.

That's right. Of the 10,000 goals, 43 have been scored by guys who only got one. Today we honour them. It's not exactly a who's who (more of a "who?"), but there are some interesting names on this list. Some remain active NHLers. Some are memorable. Some are long forgotten. Some will surprise you. Here they are, the one-goal guys, in alphabetical order:

1. Shawn Antoski
2. Kris Beech
3. Alexandre Bolduc
4. Mario Bliznak
5. Mike Brown
6. Colin Campbell
7. Michael Christie
8. Larry Courville
9. Troy Crowder
10. Jim Dowd
11. Neil Eisenhut
12. Rory Fitzpatrick
13. Robert Flockhart
14. David Fortier
15. Lee Goren
16. Randall Gregg
17. Martin Grenier
18. Jim Hargreaves
19. Ed Hatoum
20. Stewart Holt
21. Sheldon Kannegiesser
22. Zenith Komarniski
23. Jason Krog
24. Frantisek Kucera
25. Mike Lampman
26. Tim Lenardon
27. David Logan
28. Brad Lukowich
29. Len Lunde
30. Brad Maxwell
31. Aaron Miller
32. Stephane Morin
33. Martin Rucinsky
34. Tommi Santala
35. Dan Seguin
36. Brad Smith
37. Fred Speck
38. Mike Stapleton
39. Yannick Tremblay
40. Lubomir Vaic
41. Claude Vilgrain
42. Aaron Volpatti
43. Jim Wiste

Do any of the names on this list surprise you? I'm a bit taken aback to see Colin Campbell's name on there. Sometimes I forget he was a Vancouver Canuck. That said, Campbell did score two very valuable playoff goals for the Canucks during their 1982 Stanley Cup Finals run.

It's interesting to note that the players from the Gillis era are guys that will likely get another before things are all said and done. Some of the names from the Nonis era make me sad. Kris Beech. Yannik Tremblay. Aaron Miller. Martin Rucinsky. Tommi Santala. I guess I shouldn't be surprise Lee "No-Scorin" Goren made the list. His inclusion here is explained by his nickname. Rory Fitzpatrick gets a pass because he was an All-Star defenseman.

I remember Shawn Antoski well. The Canucks drafted him 18th overall in 1990, just ahead of Keith Tkachuk and Martin Brodeur. And this is where he ended up. And you wonder why Canuck fans can be pessimistic.

What do you have to say for yourselves, Canuck fans?