Already stars in Vancouver, Sedin twins will lead Sweden there

Henrik Sedin, left, and Daniel Sedin of the Canucks will lead Sweden's Olympic team at their home arena.

When you think of Swedish twins, a few things might come to mind, but NHL offensive superstars probably isn't one of them -- unless you are a Vancouver Canucks fan.

Identical twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin, both of whom play for the Canucks, will be leading the Swedish charge at the Vancouver Olympics. Despite several strong seasons -- both Sedins scored 82 points last season -- they are largely under-appreciated outside of Vancouver (even after starring in one of the best hockey ads ever made). With 74 points already this season, Henrik Sedin leads the league in scoring, and will probably top last season's career high in points. Daniel, who missed a month of the season with a broken foot, has 46 points in 33 games. That breaks down to 1.45 points per game for Henrik, and 1.39 for Daniel. The only player with a better average this season is Alexander Ovechkin, with 1.63 (70 points in 43 games).

The Sedins played secondary roles for Sweden in Torino. Henrik had 3 goals and 1 assist; Daniel had 1 goal and 3 assists. But in Vancouver, they will make up two-thirds of Sweden's top line, and they will be expected to provide much of the scoring. Their likely candidate for the final spot on their line is Mattias Weinhandl of Dynamo Moscow in the KHL. Weinhandl never found NHL success, but leads Dynamo in scoring is third overall in the league. He also has some experience with the Sedins - they played on a line together, with much success, for the Swedish club Modo during the 1999-2000 season.

That's bad news for Canucks fans, most of whom are probably not rooting for Sweden at the Olympics. But it's hard to imagine the Sedins getting booed in their own arena, even if Sweden ends up in a semifinal match against Canada.

Canucks fans understand the Sedins' value in a way Sweden fans -- who take their presence for granted -- might not. When their contracts expired at the end of last season, it seemed impossible that the Canucks could re-sign them both under the salary cap. But they said they wanted to stay, and only would sign together. That they did, for identical five-year, $30.5 million deals. They could have easily signed for more money, certainly with separate teams and probably even together with another team. But they prefer playing together, in Vancouver, which is something the fans there are grateful for.

(Edit:Ruby)