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When we were 15 we had to make a choice, soccer or hockey. I don’t think it was very close but if we wanted to play soccer we had to move to another city. That was out of the question.

Draft day is a blur, to be honest with you. We found out the night before something might happen but nothing really happened until five minutes before the draft and Thomas (Gradin) told us.

The closer you get to being done with hockey you take more time to think about teammates and games, all the memories you have. For sure that happens.

Thomas Gradin

The former Canucks’ centre and current scout also played for Modo. His mother, Elsie, was a special-needs teacher at the school where the Sedins’ father (Tommie) was principal. Gradin scouted the twins extensively for the Canucks.

We knew it was going to be tough to get (former Canucks GM Brian Burke) on side because it was two chicken Swedes (laughs). Obviously I’d known about them for awhile. It wasn’t just me. As soon as they got to 13, 14 everyone in the town knew about them.

Their hockey intelligence is what stood out, the way they position themselves on the ice, the way they could make plays and find each other. Did their game fit in the NHL? You probably say no. In North America you might have the puck for two seconds then you get rid of it. But they could hold on to the puck and that’s what made them hard to play against. If you play against them you get pissed off because you want the puck, too. But they never give it up.