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If the Sedins get hurt blocking shots, ‘so be it,’ says Torts

Back in June, when John Tortorella was introduced as the new head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, much was made of his pronouncement that the Sedin twins would be expected to block shots under his watch -- something they didn’t do much of under the last bench boss, Alain Vigneault.

What if the twins got hurt, people asked? Is it really worth it to put your best players at risk like that?

Well, Tortorella had an answer for those questions in a Q&A with NHL.com.

“They’re going to be killing penalties and I hope they do [block shots] because I know both Danny and Hank want more,” Tortorella said. “In my conversations with them this summer they want more. I’ve told the team I’m going to ask more out of everybody on this club and they’ve embraced that. For them to get more they’re going to be put in more situations, not just offensively but away from the puck and killing penalties, and they can be very dangerous people killing penalties. So if they’re going to kill penalties they’re going to end up blocking some shots. As they see that I think they’re going to feel better about themselves that they’re becoming complete players because that’s the way they think.

“The next question that I’m sure is going to be asked is what if they get hurt. So be it. You need to play the game the right way. You get injuries in a lot of different ways. You need to play the game the right way and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

The Sedins have been remarkably durable during their careers. In fact, Henrik Sedin is behind only Jay Bouwmeester on the NHL’s active ironman streak. (Daniel has been a bit less lucky when it comes to injuries, but overall he’s stayed pretty healthy.)

While it’s unlikely the twins are going to turn into Vancouver’s version of Ryan Callahan and Brian Boyle under Torts, it’s clear the new coach is trying to change the culture of a Canucks team he feels was too easy to play against before he arrived.

Related: Tortorella calls shot-blocking critics ‘idiots’