“We are shutting Henrik down for next 2 games. He wants to play, but he’s not as effective as we need him to be right now.” - Torts
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) February 6, 2014
Now, the Olympic-related news: Vancouver head coach John Tortorella doesn’t want Sedin to play for Sweden in Sochi.
John Tortorella on whether Henrik Sedin should go to the Olympics: “Do I want him to go, no. But that’s a family matter.”
— Louis Jean (@LouisJean_TVA) February 6, 2014
It’s going to be a dicey situation in Canuck land over the next few days. Sedin won’t play tonight against Montreal or Saturday in Toronto, and is scheduled to head over to Sochi shortly thereafter to join the Swedish team.
To say Sedin has been ineffective lately would be putting it mildly. He’s gone pointless in back-to-back losses to Detroit and Boston -- Vancouver only managed to score once in the two games -- and hasn’t been able to take faceoffs, attempting just four against the Wings and one against the Bruins.
Sedin has been named an alternate captain for the Swedish team in Sochi and has a long history of competing internationally. He was part of the gold medal-winning side at the 2006 games in Turin, played again at the ’10 games in Vancouver and won gold at the 2013 World Hockey Championships.
Stay tuned...