With the Vancouver Canucks’ 2017-18 season complete, the team must grapple with how to evolve without Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
It’s unclear whether the departure of the high-scoring twin brothers who have been team leaders on and off the ice for much of their 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) will lower attendance and merchandise sales or how the Canucks will invest the US$14 million in combined salary the team will save from not having the twins on the payroll.
There is also the question of whether the team will be able to keep the twins engaged with the organization during their retirement, perhaps in a mentoring or ambassadorial role.
Tickets for the two final home games sold out quickly after the twins’ April 2 retirement announcement, providing the team with a small bump in revenue.
Revenue from merchandise sales is also expected to remain strong because of a league revenue-sharing agreement, former Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths explained to Business in Vancouver.
He said NHL teams get all the profit from team merchandise sold at a team’s home arena. Most NHL merchandise, however, is sold outside arenas and comes with a royalty rolled into the retail price. Griffiths said that royalty pot is divided equally among the 31 NHL teams.
“That means that the Canucks get revenue when a jersey for [Toronto Maple Leafs centre] Auston Matthews is sold in Winnipeg.”
Griffiths added that the twins’ retirement is a big loss for the team because of the way the duo conducted themselves off the ice. They regularly visited sick children in hospitals and showed community spirit by combining to give a $1.5 million donation to BC Children’s Hospital.
Their leadership exuded a class and poise that elevated young players, and they showed by example the importance of working hard and showing up for every game, Griffiths said.
“Their class helps your brand because, if you’re looking at it in a business sense, your brand is associated with the players. They have always said and done the right things.”
The two 37-year-olds, who have each been paid more than US$74 million in their 17 seasons with the team, stressed at a press conference that they want to spend time with family.
Henrik has a wife and two preteen sons; Daniel has a wife and two preteen daughters. Both plan to continue living in Vancouver.
“It’s time to focus on our families and life after hockey,” the two wrote in a public letter. “It’s time to help with homework every night. It’s time to be at every birthday party and to stand in the cold at every hockey rink, soccer game and riding lesson on weekends. It’s time to be at home for dinner every night.”
At the press conference after the letter’s release, Henrik hinted that being part of the Canucks’ organization in the future is possible.
It is “nothing that we’re going to think about in the next couple of months, but coming here [to the team], that’s something for the future,” he said.
Business leadership consultant and Kwela Leadership and Talent Management principal Nic Tsangarakis told BIV that organizations are wise to try to keep top talent involved with the company even after they have retired.
That means former executives or public faces of firms might remain on boards of directors or retain an executive title even though their role is more advisory than operational.
The Canucks’ president of hockey operations, Trevor Linden, is a prime example of a former star player who retired for a while before joining the team’s executive ranks. Linden told BIV that, although he understands that the Sedins need personal time, he will make clear to the duo that there could be a role with the club when they are ready.
“At the appropriate time I will certainly reach out to them, but I don’t see that happening next year,” Linden said in a phone interview.
“I think they want to take some time away and to contemplate some things. I’ll follow up with them again after the year to see what they’re thinking, but that’s what I’m assuming right now.”
Linden, whose No. 16 team jersey has been retired, said that it’s a question of when, not if, the twins will each see their numbers (22 and 33) retired and hanging from the rafters of Rogers Arena.
“It’s a decision that we’ll make together,” Linden said, before adding that if a jersey-retirement ceremony does not happen next year, the event could be rolled into an extravaganza to celebrate the team’s 50th year in the NHL. •
