The Sedins' offensive futility is becoming increasingly evident and annoying. It's 5 straight games of sadness for both. Daniel has 1 assist and 8 shots in that span. Henrik has no points and 4 shots. Both are a -2. The other Canucks have scored 10 goals in those 5 games (not enough) and have a 2-1-2 record (surprising). So, 6 points of a possible 10 with the Twins doing practically nothing, except for that -2 which means they are at least keeping pucks out of their net of the time. It's easier to look past their struggles when those are not all loses isn't it? Well not for me.
What is going on with our superstars? What I see is the other teams checking them closely and giving them little room. I am also seeing a lack of gel from that line on many occasions. The timing is off. How many times do you see Henrik make a lousy soft pass right onto the defender's stick? How many times do you see them make one pass too many when in prime scoring areas? How about constant cycling along the boards that produces nothing? It's those plays that anger me. While playing lousy teams like Toronto and Edmonton allows them to act like the Harlem Globetrotters and get fancy schmancy with their plays and rack up the points, the vast majority of the teams out there are not going to allow them to get away with that. It's
times like those that I think they need to bear down and get dirty to produce, not continually pretend they are at a damned All Star Game, get fancy, and become turnover machines. Do they have any of that sandpaper in them? A little more fight? Another level?
Alexandre Burrows now has 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 2 games, so I am going to let him off the hook a bit. I do wonder sometimes if there should be a bit of a revolving door on the Sedin Line in regards to a winger for the Twins. I think that against certain teams Burrows is not big enough to create room for the Sedins to work their magic, and all 3 get pushed around. Perhaps guys like David Booth and Zach Kassian should be getting more chances on the top unit against tighter checking-bigger opposition to create that space.
OK, back to the Sedins' futility:
-Both players have as many points as games-played this season. They were scoring at over a point per game pace all season long until now. Hank scored 94 points in 82 games last season (1.15 points per game). Daniel scored 104 points in 82 games (1.27 points per game). I think most people expected some regression from both this season.
-Daniel Sedin had 13 points in 11 games in October, 14 points in 13 games in November, 17 points in 14 games in December, 8 points in 11 games in January, and 12 points in 14 games in February.
-Henrik scored 13 points in 11 games in October, 11 points in 13 games in November, 22 points in 15 games in December (woa), 7 points in 11 games in January and 13 points in 14 games in February.
-The 5-game pointless streak for Hank is uncharacteristic. He had a 4 game pointless streak in February but aside from that has been consistent all season long. The last time Hank had a 5 game pointless streak was in the Finals against Boston. Ouch. Before that his last 5-game drought happened in the 2007 playoffs against the Ducks and in the previous series against Dallas. Amazingly, the last time Hank went scoreless through 5 games in the regular season was in December of 2003. That's how rare this is for him.
-The Canucks' record this season when Hank is held off the scoresheet? 8-11-6.
-The Canucks' record when Hank records at least a point: 33-6-2.
-When Dank is held off the scoresheet? 11-11-5.
-The Canucks' record when Dank scores at least 1 point: 30-6-3.
-The Canucks' record this season when both Sedins are kept off the scoresheet? 6-9-4.
-Ryan Kesler is faring better than the Sedins lately, but just as a comparison, the Canucks are 8-12-5 when the KesLord fails to record a point.
-Holy hell, when Kesler scores at least a point the Canucks are 31-3-2 this season.
The bottom line? The Canucks rely heavily on the Sedins (and Kesler) to produce in order to be successful. The Sedins may be in a mini slump right now but these guys are competitors. They will work their way through this sooner rather than later. The Canucks have a good supporting cast for them. It just sucks when everybody is cooling off at the same time. And yeah, I am giving the Sedins a hard time when the Canucks are #1 in the NHL. Hey, I just want them to succeed. As a fan, I want this team to kick some ass and take home the hardware. No letting the foot off the gas pedal. I want these guys to roll into the playoffs. High expectations. I am a Canucks fan after all. Now c'mon Sedins! Fight through this and return to form!
It should also be noted that Hank is 19th in the NHL with a +21 and Dank is 28th with a +19. So that just reinforces what I said earlier about their ability to keep pucks out of their net while they are on the ice.
What are your thoughts, Canucks fans? Are you concerned? Think the teams are wising up to the ways of the Sedins? Are we going to see further regression from them as teams check them harder?