Sports. Know the score? Contact the editor at sports@theotherpress.ca Henrik versus Linden Will there ever bea new Captain Canuck? By Elliot Chan, Staff Writer (”” February 15, ina game against the Dallas Stars, Henrik Sedin surpassed Markus Naslund’s franchise record in points scored with 797. Although the Canucks eventually lost the game 4-3, it did not spoil the debate concerning the greatest Canuck of all time. Among fans, there is no argument: Trevor Linden is still the idol in Vancouver. But realistically, what can Sedin do to over take him? The answer is simple: win a championship. The only way for any player to step out from Linden’s shadow is to reflect the light with the Stanley Cup. Then again, Sedin has done everything Linden did in less games played. Statistically, the only major area that Linden has the upper hand is in goals scored. Henrik is a playmaker, though he did show off his abilities to score in 2010 when his brother, Daniel went down with a leg injury. So, is it really so unfair to have this discussion? Sedin has won the Art Ross and the Hart Memorial trophy, and led the Canucks to the Stanley Cup finals. But the term “led” is used loosely, because he has a notorious reputation of not showing up during pressure games. For most, it doesn’t matter what players do in the regular season, great players must bring their skills to do-or-die situations. Great players are clutch players. Unfortunately, Linden falls into the same category as Sedin. Both captained losing teams in the Stanley Cup Finals. The mirroring post-season experiences keep them on par All-star lames Wasted talent on a tired concept By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer A few weekends ago, I was urfing the channels when I decided to tune into the NBA all-star game. I don’t know what I was expecting to see, considering I’m not much of a basketball fan to begin with, but I knew I was hoping for at least something. I felt like I was watching baseball. Translation: bored out of my mind. It’s not just basketball though—it’s all sports. All- star games are the bane of entertainment to any real fan. They’re generally ridiculously high-scoring games; essentially, they’re shootouts with no one even pretending to play defense. There’s no effort whatsoever. It’s so depressing to watch that I think I can safely work in parts of a quote from one of the furthest things from sports: Shakespeare. All-star games are “but a walking shadow” of the real thing, which would make the commentary a “tale 18 told by an idiot.. nothing.” While basketball’s charade is disappointing, there are worse. For example, the NFL's Pro Bowl. Remove the physicality from a sport that is all about contact and you barely have a glorified flag football game. No one can honestly say that they get a rush from watching an event where even Asante Samuel could make a “tackle.” Similarly, the NHL’s is also a joke. It’s not the alumni part of the Heritage Classic, so hit somebody! Unless the goal of the game is to try and replicate last year’s Penguins-Flyers series, there shouldn’t be a dozen goals for either team. None of this is to say that sports leagues shouldn’t have all-star weekends though. Skills competitions are fun for both the players and the fans. Hardest slap shot? Love it. Slam dunk competition? Can’t miss it. If the Pro Bowl still had a skills showdown I'd be all over that too. They’re interesting because they’re different. Fans don’t get to see their heroes compete like that every day. signifying with each other. Besides coping with heartbreaking losses and being top draft picks, Sedin and Linden don’t have much in common. Sedin is Swedish, where as Linden is Canadian. I can’t speak for everyone, but in an international game where Canada is playing against the Swedes, it is a little difficult to cheer against Sedin. It plays a big part in Vancouver fans’ psyches. As shallow as it sounds, the best Canuck shouldn’t be a foreigner for that reason. The other thing working against Sedin in respect of being the best Canuck is that he played most of his career with his identical twin right beside him. I’ve cheered them on for 13 years and still can’t tell them apart. For the longest time the debate was, who’s the better Sedin? They were neck and neck with points for so many years. One would pass and the other Herik Sedin and Trevor Linden (2002) would score. Only recently did Henrik overtake Daniel in the race and earned recognition aside from being the other half of a scoring combination. Henrik Sedin will never be the greatest Canuck, because then what would Daniel be? They relied so heavily on each other their whole career it would be unfair to split them in such fashion. | Photo courtesy of Mark van Manen Linden rose up the ranks, earned respect, and went through trials and adversity all on his own. That is why he is and always will be Captain Canuck to the city of Vancouver and Henrik Sedin, although he is currently wearing the “C” for captain, will always be paired up with his brother Daniel. Cutting down all-star weekends to just skills competitions would be beneficial to the fans, the players, and the leagues. The fans would get to see actual entertainment and the players would get an extra day of rest instead of having to go through the motions for a couple of hours. As for Photo courtesy of www.basketwallpapers.com the leagues that put on the weekends, why do they think there’s an increasing trend of players passing on the “honour” of being selected to play on all-star teams? Getting rid of the game itself would increase player attendance and overall willingness to participate, and, in doing so, help the leagues’ images by not having to deal with the poor public relations generated by an icon refusing to show up. It’s not a hard concept. Just separate the wheat from the chaff and you’ve got a solid product. It’s unlikely that leagues will ever do away with them completely, but one can always dream.