In this instance, the guys in question are the Sedin brothers, and that's a true story. Another true story is this one.
A friend posted on Facebook on Friday that the Sedins would be in town in Agassiz during the fall fair this past weekend. Doing some searching I found the local paper mentioned it (with the captions backwards) that the brothers and their wives are establishing the Sedin Family Foundation (@SedinFamilyFdn) to help fund sports and other community endeavors throughout B.C. The first donation was to the Community, Cultural and Recreation Center in Agassiz and also $50,000 to fund a playground at Kent Elementary School. After spending 2 years driving into Agassiz every day for work and seeing the somewhat depressing gauge on the outskirts of town for fundraising for the community center not really moving, I was shocked when I went back and suddenly it was full. I'd heard there were anonymous donors but now I hear it was the brothers.
The center happened to be next to the fall fair in the town and so a friend and I took another friends young son to the event. Convenient.
We weren't too sure what to expect and when we rolled in pretty close to 2:00, the time of the event, we made our way to the gym and found not too many people (less than 200) standing around waiting in the new facility. The side door was propped open and we tried to find ourselves a good space so our young friend could see the twins when they arrived. There was quite a bit of fidgeting as the men of honour became later and later, but finally closer to 2:30, they arrived to applause and smiles all around. The brothers and their families stood against one wall which was adorned with sports equipment that they paid for. The others stood across the gym short ways watching them and listening to the short presentations. The center is planting a tree and hanging a plaque to commemorate their involvement in this project. We laughed that there probably should be two trees, but hey what can you do?
I scared myself a bit when I realized that indeed, I can tell the Sedin twins apart. They don't look too much alike, really, once you get a feel for their facial differences. Henrik spoke briefly and then they decided that a game of floor hockey was in order. The teams had been pre-selected and the Sedins were split up. It was a fun time, the crowd cheering and enjoying them playing along with mostly the children on the teams.
Daniel set up a couple of goals on his end and made sure to congratulate his team mates with hugs and high fives. Somewhere along the line, someone got a stick or ball in the mouth and the brothers were very concerned. Likewise, a very young team member burst into tears early on and I managed to snap a few photos of Daniel looking quite concerned and moving to try and help the little one who ended up being carried by mom for most of the game.
In a shocking move, Henrik scored a goal on his own causing someone nearby to say, 'It's not every day you get to say you were scored on by Henrik Sedin.' As the 'passing' brother, there aren't that many NHL goalies that can even say that.
Overall, it was heartwarming to see the Sedins in person doing what everyone in the media seems to say they always do. They're interested in people, they care, they help, the have big hearts, they're polite, soft-spoken and are just excellent human beings. Every goal celebration felt like a Stanley Cup winner to the kids in the game with the brothers and they celebrated with high-fives and hugs every time.
Once the game was over there was this awkward pause where the Sedins kind of stood in the gym and then the autographing started led by the players from the game. The families disappeared into the background and the crowd descended onto the brothers trying to get autographs and photos. Henrik made a quicker exit, getting ahead of Daniel and toward the door. He signed but disappeared while I took my friends son to Daniel. We got close and Daniel was signing everything with a smile, taking extra time for a special needs individual and taking photos with people. I made sure my friend's son was in front of me and he got his jersey signed. Behind me an acquaintance of mine said, 'Push your way in there' when I was pretty close to Daniel. I answered, "I'm not going to push" but I'm not sure that's what Daniel heard. As he made his rounds I had my calendar out and he skipped over me. It makes sense if he didn't hear me right.
He headed into the back rooms of the center and we headed outside to take our little charge to the fair. We noticed two conspicuous SUV's parked right outside and people hanging around, including the CBC news van that was still sitting there. Figuring these must belong to the twins and wanting to get Henrik's autograph so the little guy would have the set, we decided to wait.
It wasn't long before Henrik emerged with his family. He was happy to sign while his family clamored into the SUV and a mob followed him around the vehicle. They relented when he went to get in the car and although neither me or my friends son managed an autograph I made sure he heard me when I thanked him loudly as the crowd quieted.
Security pushed the group back onto the sidewalk after Henrik left and we gladly obliged. Soon, Daniel emerged and I had a hard time explaining to my young friend that he wasn't allowed to cross the grass to get Daniel to sign his poster while Daniel spoke to the Community Centre people before leaving. As he started to drive, he slowed down and rolled the window down to sign a little more. After my friends son got his poster done I approached and asked him to do the calendar, which he did. A past student of mine took this opportunity to get a selfie with Daniel which was fun and hilarious all at the same time as I snapped photos of the photo being taken.
Shortly after I was speaking with an administrator who had been at Kent School when the Sedins were there. He reiterated that the pair were gracious, friendly and chatty with them, signing and taking photos with everyone. He also spoke to their lateness (unprompted, I didn't mention it because it wasn't a big deal). He told a story of Henrik, after already being late, signing more autographs at the school. As they were finally preparing to leave, the handler scolded Henrik lightly saying they were late and 'You shouldn't take so much time and sign so many autographs.' to which Henrik responded, "That's important."
And then my heart melted.
It's irrelevant what people think of their playing ability, their usefulness on the ice with or without one another, how "tough" you think they are on the ice, their style of play, it doesn't matter. I have seen for myself that these are genuine, generous men that care about the community and province they play in. I have waivered but I believe my next jersey purchase will be a Sedin because I know I'll be giving back to the community by supporting them.
Extremely proud Canucks fan.
Created with flickr slideshow.
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