Vorstellungen » British Columbia (AP)

VANCOUVER Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys , Vancouver Canucks forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin announced they will retire at the end of the season.The 37-year-old twins disclosed their plans Monday in a letter on the team’s website before addressing media later.The Sedins are in their 17th season in the NHL, all with Vancouver. They led the Canucks to within one game of winning the 2011 Stanley Cup.”There’s been a lot of talk,” Henrik Sedin said at Rogers Arena. ”We felt the longer the season went, it became clearer to us this was going to be our last year.””It’s a happy day for all of us,” Daniel Sedin added. ”We’re really comfortable where we’re at.”They relived the tough early times when they were criticized for being too slow and soft, the high-flying glory days, the crushing defeats, and the last three seasons that have seen the Canucks lose more combined games than any other team in the league.”It’s always tough losing,” said Daniel Sedin, who along with his brother will play just three more NHL games. ”But with the team we had, you have to stay positive, you have to keep playing the right way, and trying to teach the young guys.”Heading into the final year of their contracts, the Sedins penned an open letter in the fall stating their desire to remain with the only franchise they’ve ever known – even if it meant forgoing the chance at a Stanley Cup elsewhere.”We know we had the best jobs in the world,” Henrik Sedin said Monday. ”We tried to treat it that way. … We haven’t looked too far ahead or we haven’t looked back. I’m sure we will after this is done.”The twins said in their letter Monday that they originally wanted to wait until after this season to make a decision, but they decided the time was right to make the call.Selected second and third overall at the 1999 draft after the Canucks made a series of trades to grab both brothers, the Sedins have been the faces of the franchise for more than a decade. However, it wasn’t initially a smooth transition from Sweden to North America.”There’s lot of people that believed in us early on that were part of this organization www.sabresshoponline.com ,” Henrik Sedin said. ”If they would have listened to a lot of voices out of this room, it would have been easy to trade us because we didn’t live up to the hype.”The Sedins would eventually do so to become one of the most fearsome duos in the league, with what sometimes seemed like a telepathic ability to find each other with passes. Their vision and ability to find each other on the ice often left opponents shaking their heads.”We’ll miss them as people and as players,” said Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden, who played six seasons with the Sedins. ”Happy for them because I know this is a decision they’ve come to for the right reasons.”Two likely Hall of Famers when their numbers are eventually called, Henrik Sedin has 1,068 points (240 goals, 828 assists) in 1,327 regular-season games, while Daniel Sedin has 1,038 points (391 goals, 647 assists) in 1,303 outings.Henrik added 23 goals and 55 assists in 105 playoff games, with Daniel adding 25 goals and 46 assists in 102 games.Henrik won the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer in 2009-10 with 112 points. He also won the Hart Trophy as league MVP that year.Daniel won the Art Ross in 2010-11 with 104 points. He also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the league MVP voted on by the players.”When they dropped the puck, we wanted to be on the ice,” Henrik Sedin said. ”We wanted to be the go-to guys.”The Sedins plan to stay in Vancouver for the time being and are looking forward to spending more time with family.”Going on the road, leaving the kids home, family Buffalo Sabres T-Shirts Womens , that’s been the toughest part,” Daniel Sedin said. ”It will be fun to be around them a lot more.”The core that got so close to a Stanley Cup title in 2011 has been slowly stripped away, with the Sedins among the only players left.With players like Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat at the front of a new wave under the leadership of rookie coach Travis Green, the Sedins said they feel they’re leaving the franchise in good hands.The Canucks also now have some holes to fill. Daniel Sedin has 21 goals and 31 assists in 78 games this season, while Henrik Sedin has three goals and 45 assists in 79 outings – a combined 100 points Vancouver will have to replace.”It’s the right time for us to leave,” Henrik Sedin said. ”We’ve been part of a coaching staff and a group that we really enjoyed working with.”The Canucks host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday before the Sedins’ final home game Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes. The twins will then wrap up their careers Saturday at Edmonton.”It’s a chance for us to thank the fans,” Daniel Sedin said. ”We told our teammates this morning they should be regular games. Treat us the same way.”It should be no different this last week.”— DENVER (AP) Now that was more of the start Nashville was looking for. The finish? Not as much.Filip Forsberg scored another creative goal, Pekka Rinne rebounded from a rocky performance with 31 saves, and the Predators withstood a furious rally by the Colorado Avalanche for a 3-2 win in Game 4 on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.”I guess probably some teams, every once in a while, can say everything is perfect. Everything is awesome,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. ”But most times you’re trying to work on something, trying to get better at something.”For the first time all series, the Avs were held scoreless in the opening period and the Predators built a 3-0 cushion heading into the final period.Colton Sissons and Craig Smith also scored for the Predators, who can close out the series Friday when it shifts back to Nashville for Game 5.”We don’t want it to end at all,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. ”We’re still in it. It’s not over yet.”Rinne was solid early after being pulled from the last game. Cruising along and up 3-0, the Vezina Trophy finalist allowed Gabriel Landeskog’s 5-on-3 power-play goal in the third and another on Alexander Kerfoot’s tap-in off a rebound with 8:59 remaining.Colin Wilson nearly tied with about 2 minutes left when his shot appeared to hit the post. The Avalanche pulled backup goalie Andrew Hammond late, but couldn’t get the tying goal. Tyson Jost sent a shot over the net at the buzzer.”It was a good push by them Buffalo Sabres Hoodies Womens ,” Forsberg said.Forsberg worked his puck-handling magic in the first period by dancing around defenseman Duncan Siemens and juking Jonathan Bernier for his third goal of the series. The ever-creative Forsberg had an artistic goal in Game 1 as well, when he sent the puck through the defenseman’s legs before scoring.”Just tried to use my speed wide and use that speed all the way around the net,” Forsberg said.Bernier allowed three goals on 26 shots before being replaced by Hammond to start the third period due to a lower body injury. Hammond had eight saves.Forsberg and his crew came out with a little more spring in their skates for Game 4. This may have played a role: The team went through an up-tempo practice the day before. It was a way to avoid a sluggish start like Monday when Colorado scored three times in the first period of Game 3.The strategy worked. Nashville controlled the tempo except for a frenzied stretch in the third.”We knew we weren’t going to go 16-0,” Forsberg said. ”We were going to lose a game throughout these playoffs and obviously we were just looking to bounce back.”Now, the Avs are looking to regroup.”I’m obviously upset at the result, but I loved our third, there’s no question,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. ”But we need to find that urgency earlier.”There was a scary moment in the second period when MacKinnon’s stick caught teammate Mikko Rantanen near the eye. Rantanen left with a towel pressed against his face, only to return a few minutes later.But not before the Predators scored another goal as Smith zoomed out of the penalty box and beat Bernier with a wrist shot to make it 3-0.From there, things turned a little testy. Landeskog hit a tumbling Ryan Johansen, who headed to the dressing room. He returned in the third period.P.K. Subban got the crowd fired up early by shooting a puck into Colorado’s net in the pregame warmups. He’s stepped into the villain’s role after delivering a blow to the side of MacKinnon’s helmet during Game 3. Subban was booed each time he touched the puck.The Predators came out firing on all cylinders, even going on an early 5-on-3 power play for 1:20. They but couldn’t get anything past Bernier, but they did knock Bernier’s mask momentarily out of commission when Viktor Arvidsson’s slap shot caught him square him in the cage. Bernier skated over to the bench to grab his backup one. He later returned to his original one.NOTES: Predators F Calle Jarnkrok returned after missing the last 16 games with an upper-body injury. … Rinne felt honored to be a finalist for the award that goes to the league’s top goaltender. ”Even though it’s an individual award, I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” he said. … Avs D Samuel Girard missed a third straight game with an upper-body injury. … Avs F Carl Soderberg took a bit hit from RW Ryan Hartman in the third that drew a charging penalty.—