Vancouver Canucks' Henrik Sedin points at a team-mate during the first period of their NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings in Los Angeles April 1, 2010. REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonLUCY NICHOLSON/Reuters
Centre Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks was named the Sporting News' 2010 NHL player of the year Thursday.
Voting for the award was conducted by a panel of 363 league players, coaches and executives.
Sedin garnered 108 first-place votes to outdistance Washington's Alex Ovechkin, who was second with 86. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby finished third with 72.
Sedin led the NHL in scoring this season with a career-high 112 points. He also had 18 points - including 10 goals - in the 18 games identical twin brother Daniel missed with a broken foot.
"Some guys thought it was the two of them or nothing," said fellow Swede Niklas Kronwall, a defenceman with the Detroit Red Wings. "He really proved everyone wrong."