Henrik Sedin said it hasn’t quite sunk in yet that he’s the Vancouver Canucks’ first Art Ross trophy winner.
“I don’t think it’s in my mind right now,” Sedin told media at GM Place yesterday. “It’s tough to understand. It’s surreal.”
He finished with 112 points, three more than the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s two most prominent and marketable players.
“It’s a good thing for Henrik and his teammates,” said head coach Alain Vigneault. “That’s not just a reflection on Henrik, but a combination of everybody’s play.”
Sedin said his phone was ringing off the hook Sunday and he even received a call from ex-teammate Markus Naslund, who was edged out by Peter Forsberg on the final day of the 2002-03 season for the Art Ross trophy.
Sedin had said he wasn’t focused on the trophy during the final weeks of the season, but after the 7-3 win against the Calgary Flames last Saturday, he realized he had a legitimate shot.
“I was happy going into Sunday with the lead and I had three points up on (Ovechkin) so I felt I had a chance,” he said.
Henrik and his brother Daniel took a lot of heat early in their careers for their seemingly soft, non-physical and “non-Canadian” play that earned them the name “Sedin sisters.” Any questions of their manhood now, after combining for 197 points this season, have been put to rest.
“It’s taken some time for people to appreciate Swedish players and realize they are winners too and we are winners,” said Sedin. “We don’t have to be ‘ra-ra-ra’ to win something.”
