TORONTO — Daniel Sedin has shared the spotlight with his brother ever since they stepped into the NHL.
The dynamic, breathtaking duo’s playing careers finished and with one of the game’s biggest honours beckoning, the younger sibling — by a whole six minutes — was front and centre minus his twin on Friday as the celebration for the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2022 got underway.
Henrik Sedin is recovering from a bout with COVID-19 and wasn’t in attendance, but is expected to take part in the rest of the festivities ahead of Monday’s induction ceremony.
“He wanted to make sure that he was 100 per cent,” Daniel Sedin said. “We’ll have a good three, four days together. We’re together most days.”
He then added with a grin of his brother’s brief absence: “Maybe it’s good, too.”
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks teammate Roberto Luongo, former Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson and Bernice Carnegie, daughter of builder Herb Carnegie, received their Hall of Fame rings on Friday.
Finnish women’s national team player Riikka Sallinen, who rounds out this year’s class, was also not in attendance.
The Sedin twins and Luongo were elected to the hall in June in their first years of eligibility, while Alfredsson has waited since 2017.
“You never expect this to happen,” Daniel Sedin said. “And then you get the call.”
The trigger man for the majority of Henrik’s setups during their 17 seasons with the Canucks on what became one of hockey’s most terrifying lines, the winger’s 393 goals ranks No. 1 in franchise history.
He sits second in assists (648), points (1,041) and games played (1,306) to go along with 71 points in 102 playoff appearances, including Vancouver’s run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final.
Daniel Sedin won the Ted Lindsay Award as the league MVP voted by NHL Players’ Association members and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer in 2010-11.
“It’s the ultimate proof as a hockey player that you’ve done something good,” the 42-year-old said of being inducted.
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“A big honour.”
Selected No. 3 overall at the 1999 draft — one spot behind his younger brother — Henrik Sedin owns a big chunk of the Canucks’ record book as the leader in assists (830), points (1,070) and games played (1,330).
The centre won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Art Ross Trophy in 2009-10. He added 23 goals and 78 points in 105 playoff games.
Luongo, who played eight seasons with the Sedins in Vancouver, joked he’d have to wait for Henrik to arrive in Toronto before getting out a deck of cards.
“He’s the best sponsor,” the 43-year-old joked of his former captain’s poker ability.
Luongo was drafted by the New York Islanders and retired with the Florida Panthers, but the goaltender’s days on the West Coast are what led to his hall call.
He ranked third in NHL history with 489 wins when he retired and sits second behind Martin Brodeur in games played (1,044), shots against (30,924) and saves (28,409).
The Montreal native twice won 40 games with Vancouver, including a 47-victory showing in 2006-07, and made at least 70 appearances in four straight seasons.
Luongo was a three-time Vezina Trophy finalist and finished second to Sidney Crosby in Hart voting in 2007.
The quick-witted netminder led Canada to Olympic gold in Vancouver in 2010 before backing up Carey Price in Sochi four years later in another podium-topping performance.
“You look around and see all the plaques, you see all the names,” Luongo said. “It’s pretty special.”
Alfredsson registered 444 goals, 713 assists and 1,157 points during his 18 NHL seasons, including 17 with the Senators. He added 100 points in 124 playoff contests.
A sixth-round pick who would eventually weave himself into Ottawa’s community fabric, Alfredsson won the Calder Trophy in 1996 as NHL rookie of the year in 1996.
Alfredsson, who owns Ottawa’s franchise marks for goals, assists and points, won Olympic gold for Sweden with the Sedins in 2006 and led Ottawa to the 2007 Cup final.
Set to turn 50 next month, Alfredsson was left on the outside his first four years of hall eligibility before the 2021 class was scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Surreal,” he said of the experience since learning he’d be enshrined.
“It’s humbling. It’s been a few months since we knew about it, but now this weekend coming up, having family and friends around, it’s starting to really hit you.
“Such a great honour to be amongst the players that are here before us.”
An Olympic bronze medallist 20 years apart in 1998 and 2018, Sallinen played 16 seasons with her national team.
The 49-year-old, who scored 63 times and added 59 assists in 81 games for Finland, added a silver at the 2019 world championships to go along with six third-place finishes.
Carnegie, who died in 2012 at age 92, has often been called the best Black hockey player to never play in the NHL.
Following a long career in senior leagues where he faced racism that kept him from achieving his ultimate NHL dream, Carnegie founded Future Aces, one of Canada’s first hockey schools, in 1955.
He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, and was named to the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.
“This moment isn’t just about our family because my father affected millions of young people,” Bernice Carnegie said. “Everything he put into hockey, everything he put into the community, for him now to be here, I feel a sense of peace.
“He belongs here.”
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