By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

With the NHL season just a little way
(well okay, maybe more than just a
little) past the half way point, that brings
The Other Press to its second annual
Vancouver Canucks mid-season awards.

Team MVP: Henrik Sedin

No question here, Hank has exceeded
everyone’s expectations and has proven
beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mike
Gillis made the right move when he
decided to retain the services of Henrik
and his brother Daniel during the summer
at what new seems like a very reasonable
$6.1 million per season for the next five
years.

More than any player in the entire NHL,
Henrik has dominated whenever he steps
onto the ice this year. His passing talents
are better than ever and he’s coupled

that with previously unused shooting
skills that have seen him already eclipse
his career best 22 goals before this year,
and we still have just less than half a

12

campaign to play.

Just to emphasize it all, Henrik leads the
league in points (74 at last count), even
strength points, points at home and is
second in the NHL in shooting percentage
and points-per-game. Despite all of this,
he’s not even in the top 40 among forward
ice time and is top-five in plus/minus.
Pretty freaking good.

Runner up: Daniel Sedin

Yes, Roberto Luongo has been very, very
good this year, but much like his brother,
Daniel has taken his game to another
level this year, and if he hadn’t missed 18
games with a broken foot he’d be right in
the running with Henrik for this award.
The chemistry between the Sedins and
Alex Burrows has been off the charts,
and that’s the main reason for Vancouver
being among the league leaders in goals
scored, which no one saw coming.
Daniel is third in the NHL in points-

per game, just behind Henrik, and has
dominated the opposition this year.

Best Defenseman: Christian Ehrhoff

Not only has Ehroff been far and away the
best defender on Vancouver’s blueline,
he’s been among the best in the whole
NHL. All season long the upcoming
Olympian for Team Germany has been
leading the league in plus/minus, only just
recently overtaken by Alex Ovechkin.
He’s been everything that Mike Gillis
could have possibly hoped for when he
acquired the 27 year old from the San Jose
Sharks in the summer; quarterbacking

the power play (which has rocketed to
fourth best in the NHL), sitting third in
the league in goals among defenseman,
becoming a stalwart on the penalty kill
and leading the team in minutes played
with Alex Edler in the absence of Kevin
Bieksa, Sami Salo and recently Willie
Mitchell due to injury. Getting all of this
for $3.1 million per season, Gillis may
have brokered the biggest steal of the
summer.

Runner up: Alexander Edler

Since getting the call to step up when
more experienced Canucks’ D-men went
down to injury, Alex Edler, 23, is finally

 

starting to fully earn the $3.25 million
he pulls down each year. He’s been a
jack-of-all-trades for Alain Vigneault,
playing both the right and left points,
getting nearly 27 minutes of ice time per
game since the injuries and anchoring
the penalty kill and power play. Yes, his
goal production could be better, but he’s
invaluable in other areas.

Best surprise: Christian Ehrhoff

It isn’t just that Ehrhoff has been the best
defenseman on the Canucks by a mile and
a half, it’s that he’s taken the relatively
modest expectations almost everyone had
for him when he was picked up in the
summer and driven a truck through them.
When Ehrhoff was dealt for, he was
supposed to complement Vancouver’s
veteran blueline, not lead it. He was
supposed to chip in some offense with
limited minutes that would seek to hide
what was perceived to be some defensive
deficiencies. After all, Ehrhoff was a
less-than-stellar -12 last year, so he was
thought of as one of those high-risk guys