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Making sense of the Sedin twins’ stardom

Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin

Vancouver Canucks’ Daniel Sedin, left, celebrates his goal with his twin brother Henrik Sedin, both of Sweden, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

I’ve always had an odd “relationship” with Henrik and Daniel Sedin (there was a point, by the way, when some might have placed Daniel’s name first and - you never know - that day might come again). I mean, seriously, I named a blog after the twins and I’m not even a Vancouver Canucks fan. (If you’re curious about that odd back story or just want to confirm my oddness, click here.) At the time that I decided to name the blog after them, the Sedin twins were still mostly a mystery to me. I alternately pegged them as first-line talents with minor league hearts or second-line talents with Lance Armstrong work ethics. Either way, I loved watching their hive-minded cycling and admired the way they could transform the Anson Carters of the world into productive hockey players. Yet despite flashes of brilliance, I’d be a liar if I claimed to see their dramatic development into genuine stars coming.

Make no mistake about it, too, they’ve clearly jumped a level from “unclear stars” to “slap-you-in-the-face elite.” It’s almost as if a pair of aliens are guilty of some body snatching with these guys. The goals they’re scoring aren’t just pretty, they’re demonstrative. I always assumed they were mostly passive players who could move the puck in stunning unison but now they’re scoring in-your-face type goals. Sure, the twins will probably always take the brunt of beatings (last night I compared Henrik to a “pinata”), but is there any doubt that these guys are among the game’s very best?

Where did these guys come from, though? (Note: this is a rhetorical question regarding how they’ve improved so drastically. I’m aware they shared a womb in Sweden.) What, exactly, made them explode after they signed their big contracts since ... you know, it never happens that way? Is it that the team finally handed them (and Roberto Luongo) the keys after finally moving past the Bertuzzi-Nasund Era and the failed Mats Sundin Era?

I named a blog after them, yet even I underestimated the mystical hockey talents (and strangeness) that is the Sedin twins. Is anyone else a little stunned at just how good those Swedish clones really are?