It is not often that Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly gets nervous for games.
Nov. 2, 2013 was a different story though. It was the first time in his NHL career that he returned to play in his hometown of Vancouver and the first time he would get to face the two players – Daniel and Henrik Sedin - who had been responsible for fostering his love of hockey as a child.
Playing for the first time in front of a large group of family and friends is one thing, but doing so while facing two of the players you grew up idolizing on the same night is another for a player who had only played 12 NHL games to that point.
“They were what I expected after watching them my whole childhood,” Rielly said. “That was probably the most nervous I was (before a game), my first game back in Vancouver when I was 19. I’d have to look at the footage, but I think I was minus a couple.”
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As it turns out, it was worse than he remembered. Rielly was a minus three that night in a 4-0 Maple Leafs loss to the Canucks, but he managed to avoid the wrath of the Sedins. Daniel scored Vancouver's first goal and Henrik assisted, but it was on the power play and Rielly was not on the ice.
Born in 1994, Rielly was six years old when the Sedins broke into the NHL at the start of the 2000 season. By the time they hit their prime coming out of the 2004-05 lockout, Rielly was 11, the peak time for fandom of a hockey-loving kid. Think back to when you were that age and your favorite players at that time. They become synonymous in your own mind with your childhood and they form memories that last a lifetime. For Rielly, the Sedins were those players.
“I watched their whole career. They are a big part of Vancouver and as a fan being able to watch them over the course of their career, was a big part of my love of the game,” Rielly said. “Watching guys who play the game right, who come in as young kids and leaving a lasting legacy in a place like they did is incredible and it’s definitely sad to see them go.”
Drafted second and third overall in the 1999 NHL Draft, Daniel and Henrik lived up to their expectations on the ice. Henrik is the Canucks all-time leader in games played, assists and points, while Daniel is second in each category. Daniel tops the franchise's goal-scoring list with 391 career tallies. Henrik currently sits seventh with 240.
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“I know that when I was growing up and they were in their prime, they were a few of the best players in the league, in the world, that will always be my opinion,” Rielly said. “In terms of the history of the Canucks around Vancouver, for kids who grew up there like myself, they’ll be remembered as two of the best players to have played.”
The one glaring omission from their resumes is a Stanley Cup after falling one game short in 2011 against the Boston Bruins. As a result, the debate will go on as to whether they ever fully received the credit they deserved in other cities for how good they were.
Patrick Marleau spent his first 19 NHL seasons in the Western Conference with the San Jose Sharks and has faced the Canucks the fifth-most of any opponent in his career, many of those games involving the Sedins.
“They were great players in their own right but put them together and it was something special,” Marleau said. “Just the way they could find each other out there non-stop, it was hard to defend and hard to play against all those years I played against them. They just had great, great chemistry. Everybody who played with them, they definitely helped them out but for the most part, it was those two doing the majority of the work.”
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Marleau said he certainly appreciates what the Sedins were able to do, but wondered if their consistency might have worked against them in terms of being truly appreciated for their accomplishments.
“You can always get more credit I think but sometimes after they’ve been doing it for so many years you start to take it for granted like, ‘oh they’re just doing their thing,’ but to do it for as many years as they did and to be on top of their games, contributing and winning games for their club, it’s something remarkable they’ve done in Vancouver,” said Marleau.
In Vancouver, as Rielly explains it, there is no debating their place in the city.
“I watched a lot of games and a lot of pretty nice goals. They were a big part of growing up in Vancouver, the twins, that’s what you referred to them as,” Rielly said. “As a fan growing up, I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to have watched them in their prime. Really when you look at the numbers and the games played and the points, it’s incredible. My buddies were at the game (on Tuesday) when they did the salute and they said it was pretty incredible.”
An incredible moment for a pair of incredible players who defined hockey for a generation of kids in Vancouver.