Sedins finally have chance at winning Cup
Vancouver Canucks' Henrik Sedin, left, and his twin brother Daniel Sedin, both of Sweden, are reflected in the glass during hockey practice in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday May 31, 2011. The Canucks host the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup final on Wednesday. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck) Credit: AP Photo/Darryl Dyck
Daniel Sedin absently scratched his red playoff beard, thinking back on a decade of struggle and setbacks before the Vancouver Canucks reached the Stanley Cup Finals against Boston.
Down the hallway, his identical twin rubbed his identical beard exactly the same way.
Henrik Sedin was considering a more pressing problem, though: Now that the Swedish superstars are finally close enough to touch the Stanley Cup, how do they get it away from hulking defenseman Zdeno Chara and the bruising Bruins?
"We've had a lot of challenges along the way to get here, but he's the biggest one yet -- literally, I guess," said Henrik Sedin, last season's NHL MVP who leads the league in playoff scoring with 21 points. Teammate Ryan Kesler has 18 points, and Daniel Sedin has 16.
The only sure thing is that one championship drought will end for one long-suffering hockey-loving city after the Canucks face Boston in the Stanley Cup Finals, starting in Game 1 last night in Vancouver.
The Canucks, who lost to the Rangers in seven games in 1994, have never won it all, falling in their only two previous finals appearances in four decades of existence -- yet their ever-anxious city is buzzing with anticipation, judging by dozens of fans walking Granville Street in blue-and-green jerseys in the days before the finals.
The Sedin twins finally have justified their sublime talent with team success in Vancouver, winning the Presidents' Trophy during a dominant regular season before winning nine of their past 12 playoff games heading into the finals. The Canucks might be the best team ever assembled on Canada's West Coast, yet they realize they haven't done anything until they raise the Cup.
Campbell resigns post.Colin Campbell is done serving as the NHL's chief disciplinarian, handing off one of the most thankless tasks in hockey to Brendan Shanahan.
Campbell gratefully relinquished a key component of his NHL job Wednesday before the start of the Stanley Cup Finals.
For the past 13 years, the former Rangers coach has handed out the league's supplemental discipline -- mostly suspensions and fines for dangerous play.
