Victor Hedman has grown into one of the best defensemen of his generation, with one Norris Trophy already on his mantle and possibly more to come, perhaps even an eventual Hart of Conn Smythe as well, should the Tampa Bay Lightning ever live up to expectations.
He's done so himself, finishing in the top-3 Norris finalists three years running, despite missing 12 games to injury last season. That's how dominant he's been. And the thing about watching his elegant poetry on ice is we tend to forget just how much of a force of nature he is, at nearly two metres high (6'6") and 230 pounds.
However, his official head shots should make anyone think twice about wronging him - on the ice or off:
He's also a solid playoff contributor, hitting the 10-point mark three times in the past five seasons, with a high of 14 in both 2014-15 (Stanley Cup Final) and 2015-16 (Conference Final), and 11 in 2017-18 (another Conference Final).
He also has an extensive medal collection from playing with Team Sweden: World Championship gold (2017) and bronze (2010), two World Juniors silvers (2008 and 2009) and World U-18s bronze (2007). Sweden also placed third in the 2016 World Cup.
As long as Hedman's healthy, the Bolts will have a shot at a championship.
Here he is wearing Tampa's white (away) uniform on card #GJ-VH from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:
No comments:
Post a Comment