It was this week in 2017 when former Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin reached 1,000 NHL career points.
And while the mark was officially hit on January 20th of that year, it was how it was earned that echoed across the league.
1,000 NHL career points is a commendable feat for any player. For Sedin, it locked him in as the 85th player in NHL history to do so.
The day he hit that mark, he Canucks faced off against the Florida Panthers in their home barn, Rogers Arena. A familiar face stood between the Panthers’ goal net, and that was former Vancouver Canucks captain Roberto Luongo.
Early into the first period, Alexander Edler passed the puck up to Daniel Sedin, who slid over to Sedin to score his 1,000th point against his former teammate Luongo.
“When I got the breakaway, I didn’t really know what to do,” said Sedin. “I think Lu thought I was going to go upstairs, but it was nice to see it go in.”
His teammates cheered in celebration and took to the ice to congratulate their leader at 5:50 in the second period.
“When I saw my teammates come on the ice, I lost it a little bit,” said Sedin. “It was very special. If I retired today, I think that was the most memorable moment for me as a player.”
On the other hand, Luongo said he felt happy for Sedin but was ultimately disappointed that he let the shot get past him. The Canucks went on to win the game 2-1, with Luca Sbisa securing the deal for Vancouver later in the third period.
Sedin ended the 2016-17 season with 15 goals and 50 points. The following year, he scored three goals and 50 points, marking his last season in the NHL. Sedin played all 17 seasons of his career with the Canucks, scoring 240 goals and 1070 points; he and his brother officially retired following the commencement of the 2017-18 season.
Luongo came to the Canucks in 2006 and ultimately changed the game for the organization. He was named as the 12th captain of the Canucks organization, making him the seventh goaltender to lead a team in NHL history. In 2010 Luongo stepped down from his role of steering the ship for the Canucks and passed the torch onto Sedin. The Vancouver netminder was traded four seasons later, in 2014, to the Panthers.
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