Canucks Sedins, Luongo to be 2022 Hockey Hall of Famers!

Vancouver Canucks legends and current employees Daniel and Henrik Sedin, along with goaltender Roberto Luongo, will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this coming November. The were all elected for induction in their first year of eligibility.

The 18-member Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee began deliberations at 8:30 am eastern time in Toronto and finished a little after 1:30 pm. The Sedins decision came earlier in the proceedings as opposed to later.

The new inductees were contacted soon after the voting process concluded.

VHN wrote Sunday of the rationale behind the strong likelihood of the Sedins induction. Brian Burke, the man who drafted them into the NHL as GM of the Vancouver Canucks, Cammi Granato, a current assistant general manager of the team, and Anders Hedberg, a Swedish hockey legend from the Sedins’ hometown of Ornskoldsvik, are all members of the selection committee.

They would have presented strong arguments, although 14 of the 18 members must vote in favour of a player for him or her to be inducted.

While some mild coercing may have been required to push the Sedins across the finish line against some stiff existing competition from a dozen or so other prolific former NHL players, Luongo appeared to be a given as a first ballot inductee. His 489 wins alone dominate the goaltending portion of the player category. He played a whopping 1,044 regular season games, all but seven of them (New York Islanders) with the Vancouver Canucks or Florida Panthers over 19 seasons.

Daniel, the 2nd-overall pick in the 1999 NHL Draft tallied 1,041 points in 1,306 career regular season games. 393 goals and 648 assists. Henrik, the 3rd-overall pick and the team captain since 2010, finished with 240 goals and 830 assists in 1,330 regular season games.

Both brothers won the Art Ross Trophy after leading the NHL in scoring, in consecutive years naturally, and both have a league MVP award, Henrik the Hart Trophy in 2010 and Daniel the Ted Lindsay Award in 2011, as voted on by his peers.

Both brothers were part of the Swedish Olympic Gold Medal team in 2006 in Torino, Italy and both also won World Championship Gold in 2013.

All three men led the way and backstopped the Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011, a series they lost in seven games. The club made the playoffs in 11 of the Sedins’ 17 years with the franchise.

Not to be overlooked, Henrik and Daniel shared the King Clancy Memorial Trophy from the NHL in 2018 for the player who “exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.” Henrik previously won the award on his own two years earlier.

Luongo finished with a career goals against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of .919. Not bad for a goalie who retired when he was 40. He won the William Jennings Trophy along with back-up Cory Schneider in 2011 for having the NHL’s lowest goals against average.

The 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame induction is scheduled for Monday night, November 14th in Toronto. It will truly be a Vancouver Canucks party.