Swedish twin forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin, proverbially joined at the hip for nearly two decades both with the Vancouver Canucks and Tre Kronor, formally ended their career tonight with the Canucks in Edmonton, closing out a historic 18-season NHL career spent side by side.

After taking the Swedish league by storm, speculation was rampant at the 1999 NHL Draft about where the brothers would land, with both stating their desire to play together. It was Vancouver GM Brian Burke trading up to lock in the second and third overall picks in the draft, making Daniel and Henrik Canucks, with whom they debuted in 2000. The twins’ sixth sense for knowing each other’s moves two and three steps ahead made defending them a huge challenge for opposing teams, as they paired together almost always to become the first brothers in NHL history with 1000 points each. The brothers end their magical careers with a combined 633 goals and 2111 points in a combined 2636 career games, with six All Star appearances and a pair of Art Ross trophies between them, with Henrik winning the Hart Trophy as League MVP in 2010 and Daniel winning the Ted Lindsay Award in 2011. The only title that eluded them was the Stanley Cup, which they both came within one game of winning in 2011.

The twins first joined the Juniorkronorna at the 1998 World Juniors, spending their last two junior seasons simultaneously playing with the men’s Tre Kronor squad at the World Championships. The Sedins suited up for three World Juniors (1998-2000), five World Championships (1999-2001, 2005, 2013) and two World Cups (2004, 2016), also suiting up together for the 2006 and 2010 Olympics, with only Daniel playing at the 2014 Sochi Games with Henrik out injured. The twins collected Gold medals at both the 2006 Turin Olympics and the 2013 World Championships, adding bronzes at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships, and Daniel adding a silver medal from the 2014 Olympics, with their final Tre Kronor appearance together at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Together, the Sedins won eight IHLC titles during their illustrious careers, the first in 1997 and their final tied to their Gold Medal win at the 2013 Worlds on home ice in Stockholm. We wish Daniel, Henrik and their families the very best for their retirement and the things to come!

Photo Credit: SVT Sport – IIHF – HHOF – IOC