Music: {allcanada} TOP NHL PROSPECT LANDESKOG MEETS SEDIN TWINS AT CUP FINAL

Monday, June 6, 2011

{allcanada} TOP NHL PROSPECT LANDESKOG MEETS SEDIN TWINS AT CUP FINAL

There was no taking the smile off Gabriel Landeskog's face after finally meeting the Sedins at the Stanley Cup final.

The Kitchener Rangers forward was among four top prospects in the upcoming NHL draft to take in Game 3 of the championship series. The 18-year-old Swede took the opportunity to speak with his famous countrymen after the Vancouver Canucks skated at TD Garden on Monday morning.

"I got a picture with me in between them so that was my highlight of the day so far," Landeskog said of the Sedin twins. "They're so down to earth and they're so nice. They took the time to come out and meet us and take pictures with us. I was talking to them about their summer training and just for them to be in the Stanley Cup and how excited they were about bringing the Cup back to Vancouver.

"It was great."

Landeskog was the second-ranked domestic skater in the final rankings released by NHL central scouting. He was joined at the Stanley Cup by Red Deer centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Saint John centre Jonathan Huberdeau and Niagara defenceman Dougie Hamilton.

Another highlight of the visit was taping a spot with Don Cherry for the Hockey Night in Canada telecast of the game.

Nugent-Hopkins grew up in Vancouver and was thrilled to speak with some members of the Canucks even though he didn't really cheer for the team as a kid.

"It's really cool," he said. "We met the Sedins, (Alex) Burrows, (Raffi) Torres, (Jeff) Tambellini, (Dan) Hamhuis, it was really good. I've watched a lot of those guys for a long time."

They also took a trip through the Boston Bruins dressing room and spoke with rookie forward Tyler Seguin, who was the No. 2 pick overall a year ago. In fact, the 19-year-old was among the prospects who attended the Chicago-Philadelphia final in 2010.

"I definitely know what they're going through," said Seguin.

The first round of the NHL draft will be held in Minnesota on June 24.