Sibling rivalry behind the bench as Canucks prospects scrimmage
A pair of hall-of-fame players went up against each other as coaches at Vancouver Canucks development camp at UBC on Thursday.
Twin brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin each coached a squad of prospects in a scrimmage, with Daniel coaching the blue team and Henrik behind the bench for the white team.
"It means a lot. The way they carry themselves, the way they think the game,” said Mikael Samuelsson, a fellow former Canuck and current player development coach.
Led by Henrik, the white team jumped out to a quick 3-0 first period lead, thanks in part to a pair of goals from Tristen Nielsen.
But Daniel’s blue squad came back to make a game of it, getting to within one in the third period.
With the score 6-5, Daniel elected to pull his goalie for an extra attacker with just over a minute to play, and that’s when 2022 first round draft pick Jonathan Lekkerimaki went to work, unleashing a one-timer to tie the game.
In the extra frame, it was Henrik who decided to gamble.
With a face-off deep in the blue team’s zone, he called the goalie over to the bench and sent out an extra forward.
With the play behind the net, defenseman Chad Nychuk snuck in from the point, took a pass and buried the winning goal.
As the players celebrated on the ice, Henrik looked over at younger brother Daniel on the opposite bench with big grin on his face and gestured that the game was over.
But the professional journey for the 36 players on the ice at development camp is just beginning.
It would be a surprise to see any of them crack Vancouver’s opening night roster, but many of them could suit up for the Abbotsford Canucks this year, where they will continue to hone their games under the guidance of the Sedin twins in their roles with the organization’s player development department.
A handful of fans attended Thursday’s scrimmage, and for them it was a first look at Surrey’s Arshdeep Bains in Canuck colours.
The winger racked up a league-leading 112 points for the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League last season and would love to start his pro career in the Lower Mainland, where family and friends can watch him play every night.
"It would be a dream come true. Every kid wants to play in their hometown and I think if I get that opportunity that would be awesome,” Bains said.
The next chance to see the Canucks' NHL hopefuls on the ice will be in September, when they host prospects from the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton.
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