Why isn't Henrik Sedin respected?

[Mr. TM]

As of tonight, he is the leading scorer in the NHL. He is on pace to get over 100 points, and has a chance to win Gold. He is on a very good team that is scoring, being on one of the most offensive lines in hockey with his brother Daniel, and Alex Burrows.

But I log onto NHL.com, I turn on Sportsnet, and what do I see? Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Two players who Henrik is leading in points this season. The two latter players are each considered the faces of the company, but their respected hockey cities? Pittsburgh and Washington. They are not Vancouver, a team that has grown massively since Burke brought the Sedins into the league and team.

I can see why, Henrik has been controversal. Knee on knee hits, crying after his team loses, bitching to the media, having a reputation for being a "punk", living the life of luxury while showing off, and general negatives. Just kidding, those are qualities of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, you can figure out which qualities belong to which players yourself. Henrik Sedin has done nothing but positives in the league, and nothing but positives on the world stage after a very gratious win in 2006.

Why isn't Henrik talked about? I think the answer is easy. Vancouver exists in a magical place known as the "Pacific Time Zone". Unfortuantly, he is not the only superstar to live in this twighlight zone. Leading Goal Scorer? Patrick Marlea of the San Jose Sharks. His superstar partner? Joe Thornton. These guys get no new coverage, partially because they play in the West and in the East lives the journalists. Why aren't the Journalists working harder to promote these superstars? How many people even know Henrik Sedin is the leading scorer? How doe sthis make you feel?

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

I don't think Henrik Sedin is mentioned enough is because of a couple of things:

1) He's not a known name and he's not the face of his own franchise. To the common fan, Vancouver is known for having Luongo. Deny it all you want, but if you are just a common fan you probably don't know about the Sedins, which is the media's fault.

2) He's not flashy. He doesn't stand out among other NHL players. Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin all bring a superstar character to the game of hockey. Sedin just simply gets lost in the shuffle, no matter how good he is.

3) He hasn't done anything to stand out (good or bad). Ovechkin has his celebrations, his rock star attitude, and sometimes his rough play and Crosby has his natural hockey skills, and yes his whining. Sedin hasn't done anything to stand out to the general population of hockey fans.

Fans like you and I, who are die-hard hockey fans, follow all the goings on in the NHL so we are aware of the superstars, of the not-so-known superstars, and even the rookies and the prospects. I, myself, follow almost everything NHL and hockey so I am well aware of Sedin and the season he is having. Since Sedin is not exposed on the sports shows and does not stand out from the other players, the majority of fans, especially Americans, won't recognize him and won't realize his accomplishments.

 

[NotoriousBigQ]

The simple answer to this is that Henrik plays for Vancouver. The major markets for all sports are on the east coast. Vancouver is the most isolated place from the east coast in the entire league. The NHL is always showcasing the huge stars and big names. If you ask a random NHL fan who the top players in the league are they'll most likely respond Crosby, Ovechkin, etc. He doesn't have the highlight reel plays that Ovechkin has and doesn't have the Stanley Cup that Crosby has. I'm all for the top players in the league getting equal focus based on skills, but from a business point of view it will always make more sense for the NHL to focus on the big name players like Crosby and Ovechkin, leaving players like Henrik Sedin on their own in Vancouver.

 

[LSN80]

When I think of Vancouver, I think of Roberto Luongo standing on his head every night to help his team win another 1-0 game. Or at least, thats what I THOUGHT.

Last month, the Penguins and Canucks squared off in Vancover. Being that I live on the east coast, I rarely watch any games in the PTZ, because of what time I work. But the Pens were streaking a bit, and interest was peaked more because we had called up a goalie from the AHL to start, and another from the ECHL to back him up due to injuries. So the story from th top of the broadcast here in Pittsburgh was "how would the rookie goalie fare against the NHLs hottest line? They then showed a plethora of stats that confirmed that the Vancouver trio was indeed the hottest line in the NHL upon the return of Henriks brother from injury. And how did the rookie goalie fare? He was pulled before the second concluded having given up five goals, all to that line! The ECHL goalie was named the games third star because he held the fort in a 6-2 loss. Henrik was the games top star, and he got my respect that night. This is his first year where hes lead the league in anything, so that might be why all the national attention is heaped on Crosby, Malkin, and Ovechkin, right or wrong.

Just to address your comments on Crosby and Ovechkin, its hard for me to do anything but respect Sid. Does he have a tendency to bitch to the refs, to yap at the other bench, to unleash a ton of curse words on the ice when hes frustrated? Yeah, he does all 3, and Im a Pens fan first, Steelers fan second. But hes not the dirty player on the ice Ovechkin is, or does he soak up the extravagent lifestyle off it that Alex the great does. Hell, the year after the Penguins first made the playoffs with Sid, he went to random season ticket holders homes to personally deliver their tickets, aclose friend f mines included. Highlight of her life. Sids as classy a guy off the ice as their is. And as he ages(hes only 22) he'll probably show the maturity and class on the ice that 29 year old Henrik does. As for Ovechkin, hes public enemy numero uno here in Pittsburgh. Almost took Gonchar out for the season with a deliberate knee on knee collision in the Conference Semis last year. The guys a punk.

In conclusion, Its funny to me, hockey is seen as a "Canadien sport", but most of the guys who get the attention play here in the States. Good thread topic.