Sedin turned down the honor of representing his homeland of Sweden in the Sochi Olympics in favor of resting and allowing his ribs to heal - getting his body right to help his team crawl out of a seven-game losing streak for a stretch run toward the NHL Playoffs, and the decision has paid off as Sedin has participated in every practice since Thursday.
Coach John Tortorella shut his captain down for the last two games before the Olympic break after he proved ineffective in trying to play through the pain that had sidelined him for six games after suffering a rib injury January 16th at Phoenix, and though Tortorella preferred that the slick centerman not play in the Olympic games, he left the decision up to Sedin.
A decision befitting a team captain, and a decision worthy of respect from both his peers and the fans.
"It was a tough decision, like I said, but it would have felt awful toward my teammates and myself and Team Sweden to go over there and not be at 100 percent."
So while Sedin healed, his twin brother Daniel and abrasive defenseman Alex Edler carried the staff and won Silver for Sweden, goaltender Roberto Luongo and defenseman Dan Hamhuis won gold medals with Team Canada and blue liner Yannick Weber and centerman Ryan Kessler skated for the Swiss and the United States respectively.
"I was very pleased with the practice and how I felt," Sedin said on Friday after practicing for the first time in two weeks. "Everything is going the way I wanted it to go, so that's good."
Despite all of the turmoil associated with the Canucks this season, and sporting a league-worst 4-13-2 since the ball dropped on the new year, they are still just one point shy of the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference playoffs and are facing a middling schedule down the stretch.
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/canucks-henrik-sedin-healthy-after.html#.UwvcTYUcq58
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