Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles

y Ryan Goddard
One thing that stands out for the Vancouver Canucks is how they can benefit from a lockout. Yes,
they’re more than a year removed from their long haul to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals.
But with the weight of a “contender” title on their shoulders and a rushed return for Ryan Kesler after
off-season shoulder surgery, it was clear the team was playing a catch-up game throughout the season.
With plenty of time to rest after a first round playoff loss to the eventual cup winners (has to be
mentioned, it makes me feel better) a few of the players have taken a new approach to their off-season
preparation. I was lucky enough to sit down with a couple Canucks and ask them how they spent their
summers putting so much heartbreak behind them and how they’ve managed to plan for an inevitable
cut to their salaries.
“It’s tough,” stated Daniel, from a hazy corner of the Amsterdam café he has been employed at since
late May.
“Dealing with glaucoma, I mean” he says with a slightly devilish grin and a quick wink that could easily
be mistaken for a twitch.
“No, I yoke, but it has been tough trying to forget that we lost the cup. It was ours. I feel, and my
brother Henrik does too, that the cup really belonged to us that day. It was tough to recover, physically
and mentally, and find the desire to score so many goals to get to the cup finals again. I actually decided
I was going to score a few less goals this year and share some with my brother, Henrik, and even Ryan
Kesler, who I play on the same team with. I think I messed up a bit though, because I forgot to tell them I
was sharing, and so they didn’t score so many – and I think they should have. I don’t really think I should
have had to tell them either. I am not a coach, I am a goal shooter. I am not a GM either, so I cannot
find new players to score goals. Mike does that, and he really kinda…” Daniel giggles a bit nervously
here, and gazes out the through the condensation on the picture window of the quaint café.
“Well,” he continued “he really kinda fucked that up with David. We heard David likes shooting, like me,
and I thought I would like him a lot. Really, though, he’s kinda strange and I think he thinks when he
shoots in summer time it’s the only time he needs to be accurate.” Daniel shakes his head solemnly. He
sighs, and stares intensely at the server as she passes by our table.
“Henrik would have known that meant I wanted a bacon pannenkoeken.” Daniel stares down at the
table. “I miss Henrik,” he says.
This appears to be an invitation so I ask him about Henrik. “Hey, Daniel?” I say.
His response was heavy and lacked personality. “Yes?”
“Where is Henrik Sedin, your brother?”
Daniel sits up from his slouched position and a little bit of light seems to shine behind those icy-blue
eyes.
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