Ryan Johnson to return on Friday against Blues / Bolduc sent down, Hansen called up

Geez, the news in Van Land just keeps getting better and better. As CDC puts it: Johnson ranks fourth on the team for blocked shots, with 36, despite having only played in 22 games so far this season. Yeah, a real character guy that we have sorely missed.
With Hansen being called back up and Bolduc sent down, who is the odd man out against the Blues on Friday? Hansen? Hordichuk? Jaffray? Is Jaffray going to get bumped? I've been liking his play recently, but he's probably the guy who will ride the pine.

T Tags: Canucks Ryan+Johsnon+returns Jannik+Hansen+recalled Bolduc+sent+down

The game after a stinker and before Sundin comes to town

That’s definitely the tough part, getting the turkey out of you the next morning. But I think it will be a little bit easier being a home game. You get to sleep in your own bed and really enjoy the full Christmas experience and when you wake up Boxing Day, you turn the page and get ready to go. - Shane O’Brien on getting back to business tonight after the holiday break. -Shane O'Brien, Vancouver Sun.

It's not just the stuffing the Canucks have to get over, it's the 5-0 destruction the Sharks handed them on the 24th, a game they barely showed up for.
I read through some of my posts from October until now, looking for other stinker games, and the best I could come up with was the 5-2 loss to the Sabres on October 17 and the 3-1 loss to the Flames on November 29. Besides the obvious trend of the Canucks perhaps taking too many penalties, not showing up, getting outshot in those games there is another: the Canucks would lose the next 2 games after each sleeper.
But there is a more positive stat to throw out there: the Canucks are 2-1 against the Oilers this season. Both wins came at home, where they play tonight.
The Canucks have won 3 of their last 5. The Oilers only 2.
From Canucks.com:

The Oilers have won six of their last nine road contests, and head to GM Place for the second time in 10 days following a 4-2 loss on Dec. 17. Edmonton is 2-5-1 in its last eight visits to Vancouver.

Also:

The Oilers are looking to string together back-to-back victories for the first time since opening the month of December with three straight wins.

INJURIES

-Ethan Moreau is questionable after injuring his wrist blocking a shot against the Oilers' win over Phoenix on the 22nd.

-I know we all miss Luongo, but how about Ryan Johnson? There's a character guy that I've missed since he broke his foot and finger weeks ago.
In regards to Luongo, there is no talk of a timeline except "week to week". I talked to my cousin at the family dinner last night about groin injuries for goalies, as he plays net locally and does summer goalie camps, and he said it's a tough injury to have. He said that you can be walking around feeling fine for long periods of time and then all off a sudden you'll feel pain walking up stairs, for example. He projects 2 more weeks for Luongo. I'm not so sure about it after hearing of my cousin's experiences. 2 weeks would be terrific wouldn't it?
How about the Canucks just play better without Luongo?! They do it in stretches and are inconsistent. I hear many Canucks fans wondering if we should be getting a different backup goalie while Luongo is out. My opinion on that wanes. How about the team plays better? Curtis Sanford looked great in relief of a rubber-stricken Cory Schneider last game. How about the coach rides Sanford for a while and the team buckles up in front of him?!
It's Friday today but it feels like Monday, why? Because it's a big week in Vancouver. We play 3 in a row at home against the Oilers, Senators and Flyers. The team needs to establish some form of consistency in Luongo's absence and while Mats Sundin practices with the team yet does not play. He reportedly arrives tomorrow.
Distractions everywhere. Focus boys!

FROM ENEMY LINES

Good for them. I know many long suffering Canuck fans who seemed to be on the edge of a dream before a Jovo dumbkoff penalty or Bertuzzi the Brave decided to alter time and space. Perhaps no fan group in the NHL deserves a Stanley Cup more than Vancouver.

And you know what? They might just do it. - Lowetide

Great piece about Canucks fans, management by Lowetide today.

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST
TV: SPORTSNET

Canucks.com live blog is happening!

T Tags: Canucks+Oilers+game+preview Friday+December+26+2008 Mats+Sundin+Vancouver+arrival losing Luongo

Salo, O'Brien and Johnson injury updates / Canuck players' reaction to Sundin signing

O'Brien is day-to-day
He will play against Chicago Saturday.

Salo is out for a month with a broken rib.

Ryan Johnson will miss 3-4 more weeks with a broken finger and a broken foot.

T Tags: Shane+O'Brien Sami+Salo injry+updates December+19+2008

There no doubt the Canucks are excited to have Sundin join the club. Luongo played it cool, Daniel Sedin can hardly contain himself, and Demitra knows he is going to play with a world class player. Mike Brown will switch to #15 and said it is his honor to give Mats the #13. Check out the TSN footage here.

Sakic loses battle with snow blower / Shut up Ryan Miller / Canuck hits on Nashville

What a bizarre sequence of events that have happened to Joe Sakic recently. He was already out of commission with a herniated disc in his back, and now he'll miss 3 months after injuring his hand in a snow blower accident. Sakic has had surgery on his 3 broken fingers and damaged tendons as a result of the accident. My question is: "How in the blue hell did he injure himself snow blowing?"
For one, he didn't run his had over with it. Maybe he was repairing it. Aha! Even more dumb:

Sakic is actually fortunate that the injury was not worse. Reportedly the future Hall of Famer was attempting to dislodge some wet snow from around the blades. While the blower was off, when the snow was cleared the torque from the blades jammed his hand, says the article in TSN.

Secondly, it seems strange that he is using a snow blower when he has back problems. If I was a boss and this guy was off on WCB using that machine I would be suspicious. But that is only speculation on my part.
My other thought is a conspiracy theory....
Sakic goes off on long term disabilty and the Avalanche have enough room to sign Mats Sundin. How do you like that one? Then Joe can come back just before the playoffs. Who knows. Just throwing that BS out there.
How did I come up with that image? Ah, I typed in "snow blower accidents" in Google Images and that image was quite dominant in the results.

---

This whole situation with Ryan Miller accusing a referee using profanity is lame. What is he thinking? The MSM is corelating it to the Avery situation but that is just pathetic. Unless Miller is a serious Christian and is offended by such language and it perhaps violates his beliefs, then SHUT THE HELL UP!

---

The Yankee Canucks has a great piece up today about the 3 big Canucks hits on the Predators last night. Here's my opinion:
1. Rob Davison's hit was a beauty and completely legal.
2. Alex Burrows left his feet to hit JP Dumont. That constitutes a penalty. But as far as the head shot goes...I'm not buying that really. I didn't see him stick his elbow out like Randy Savage would. The impact to the head was coincidental. If you look at the image to the left, you can see that Burrows' hand or wrist area makes contact with Dumont's yap. But yeah, Burrows did jump.
3. I really don't think Kesler meant to board Shea Weber. People are so quick to judge a lot of these people and say the player should have let up. Many times THERE IS NO TIME to let up. The incident happens over the coarse of 1 or 2 seconds. Nobody's brain can rationalize anything in that time frame. You go for the hit. I will say that Weber changed his course of direction just before the hit, making himself prone to get boarded. And that kind of thing is what should be eliminated from the game first. Are these players psycho or what?? Take the bloody hit already!

T Tags: Joe+Sakic+injures+hand snow+blower+accident Ryan+Miller+complains+about+referee+profanity Canucks+hits+Predators Burrows+hits+Dumont Kesler+boarding+Weber Davison+the+killer

Sanford back in backup role / Salo update

I had no idea that Curtis Sanford's back was healed. It sounds that way as he expressed his disappointment in not playing in last night's game against the Avalanche:

"I'm disappointed," Sanford said before backing up against the Avalanche. "I wanted to get back in there, obviously. I didn't have a great game on Thursday [in Detroit] and I didn't think too many other guys on the team did, either.

"Cory deserved to get back in there, and I just have to look forward to my next chance. You never know what's going to happen. My mindset doesn't change. I still have a job to do on this team." - Vancouver Sun

Well considering how Schneider played in the loss to the Avs, I would almost have to think that the Sandman may get the start against Nashville on Wednesday.
I also agree with his assessment about how poorly the team played in front of him in the loss to Detroit.

---

I guess I'm not the only person who didn't notice when Salo hurt himself during last night's tilt. According to the Sun, Salo was unavailable for questions after the game however, Alain Vigneault shed a bit of light on the situation:

"First indication is he just tweaked his groin there a little bit," Vigneault said. "That's all I know."

Hey! You're not supposed to elaborate on injuries! Salo has a "lower body injury."

T Tags: Canucks+injury+updates Salo+injured+again December+2008 Sanford Schneider goalie+battle

Sanford or Schneider?

TSN's Ice Chips is saying that Luongo skated with goalie coach Ian Clarke again today, but it was only "movement exercises". Squire Barnes said today that Luongo is still sore in "that area". It's going to be a while before he returns.
Sanford will skate tomorrow. He did his workout off ice today and had special treatment from the ladies at the Swedish Touch Massage Parlour. Just kidding about the last part.
There was a point where I would have said that the Canucks could play either Sanford or Schneider in Luongo's absence and it wouldn't matter. Now, I think it may be a fair question to ask: "Is Schneider ready for the big time?" I still think he looked shaky at times last game against Columbus. If Sanford's back does not heal by Thursday, Cory may be facing the Red Wings and the Wild in back-to-back games. Is he up to the challenge? I don't think we can question Schneider's heart or desire if he is given the opportunity. These games could be a huge opportunity to steal 1 or 2 games and solidify his position as a near-future NHL goaltender. No pressure, Cory.
This will get very interesting.
What do you think? Are you praying for Sanford to return, or do you still have faith in Schneider?
Personally, I'm not counting out Schneider yet. I am looking forward to see his resolve. I also want to see the team in front of him buckle down a bit more defensively and take less penalties as well. A little more finish from the forwards wouldn't hurt either.

T Tags: Luongo+groin+injury+update Sanford+back+injury+update Cory+Schneider+may+be+number+1+goalie Canucks

Canucks-Flames preview

I like the attitude of Ryan Johnson. When asked if he will change his game when he comes back 3-5 weeks from now, as he has a broken finger and foot, he said "No."
Johnson is a gutsy, character guy. He will be hard to replace. Alexandre Bolduc will try to fill Johnson's role the best he can.

“Here, I’m not going to try to do anything crazy, I’m going to play my game, play it safe,” said Bolduc. “Not get noticed in a bad way, keep it simple and go from there.

“I think there are lot of guys they could have called up from our team, we’re on a roll right now. Ryan Johnson is a defensive guy and they wanted someone who could fill that role, so I’m just going to come here and play that role the best I can."

I haven't seen Bolduc play much at all, so I don't know what to expect from him. He does have 8 points in 12 games with the Moose this year. Is he going to block shots and be an effective shutdown guy? We'll see.

Mike Brown will replace Steve Bernier, who has a bruised shoulder. Bernier has not found his offensive stride here yet, so we won't miss him up front in that way. He is a pretty aggressive guy though who finishes his checks. Brown will have no problems filling that role one bit.

It appears Kevin Bieksa will return to play against the Flames. I have mixed emotions on his return. I hope he plays consistently.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

While the Canucks continue to roll, the Flames are not. Calgary has won 3 of their last 5, but are 5-5 in their last 10. Inconsistent. They are starting to remind me of the team that played under Jim Playfair 2 seasons ago. Calgary's home record: 8-3-1. Their road record: 4-6-0.
-The dominating Canucks are sitting 5 points ahead of the trailing Wild and Flames.
How does the Flames rank in stats with the rest of the NHL?
Goals per game: 10th at 2.96 Canucks are 9th.
Goals against per game: 27th, allowing an average of 3.18 GPG. Canucks rank 3rd.
Who's better 5 on 5? Canucks by a landslide.
Power play efficiency: 12th overall at 19.5%. Canucks are 18th overall.
Penalty Kill efficiency: 13th at 82.5%. Canucks are 19th.
The Flames have a higher shots per game average and they allow less shots per game on average than Vancouver.


Flames Player Stats. Ooo, I'm loving Kipper's stats! Ass!

So what can we possibly expect from this game? That's easy. We should see an angry Flames squad that wants some redemption from the 2 times we handed them their asses in October: 5-4 and 6-0 wins. Calgary destroyed the Kings 6-2 in their last game. Mike Keenan changed every Flames line to get the team going and it worked.
The Canucks have been pretty composed lately but I think the Flames will break that wall down. There should be plenty of hits and a few great fights to go along with that. That should get the GM Place fans going.
I'm calling a Canucks win at home and a Flames win in Calgary.

For all those people who are still concerned about Luongo being out for a while, here is a thought for you: The Canucks are 14-6-2 right now. If they play 500 hockey until Louie's return they should still be in great shape. 500 hockey is not a lot to ask is it? It helps me sleep at night!

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST
TV: SPORTSNET

Above image is from Mattgunn.ca

T Tags: Canucks+Flames+Preview November+27+2008 Bernier+Johnson+injured Brown+Bolduc+in

Brodeur out 4 months

What a huge loss to the Devils. Brodeur needs surgery to repair torn bicep tendons. The only thing that has ever held Marty Brodeur out of the line up for any extended period of time was lockouts and Chris Terreri (back when Brodeur was just breaking into the league.) His chase of Patrick Roy's record will be put on hold. More importantly, I need to find a new goalie in about 5 of my 7 Yahoo Pools. Damn it.
A concerned coach Sutter could only remain positive on the exterior:

"When you have a Marty Brodeur as a goaltender and he's out for a significant amount of time sure it certainly gives you a knot in your stomach, but you have move forward," Devils coach Brent Sutter told the Bergen Record. "I'm confident and I trust the players here that they will do what needs to be done to move forward."

So now the questions abound. How well will Kevin Weekes and Scott Clemmenson fill in the void? They, especially Clemmenson, will finally emerge out of the shadows.
There is a lot riding on those 2. The Devils didn't acquire guys like Holik and Rolston to just make the playoffs. They in my opinion are/were a Cup contender.
The best thing about the Devils is that can play the trap like no other. They currently sit 6th best in the NHL in shots against. We know how much Brodeur has benefited (on top of his skills) playing behind these Devils teams for the past decade and a half. So maybe the 2 backups will be alright. Time will tell.
Would the Devils take a stab at Nikolai Khabibulin now? That will depend on how Weekes and Clemmenson perform.

T Tags: Martin+Brodeur+injury out+4+months torn+bicep+tendons Devils Clemmenson Weekes

Rypien goes from viral infection to sports hernia surgery

Well this is a bummer indeed. From TSN:

Rick Rypien is having sports hernia surgery and will be out indefinitely. He came home from the road trip early because of a virus, began skating on his own recently and felt a "tweak" in his abdominal area, got it checked and they discovered the hernia. He's had a history of groin and abdominal problems.

That will put him on the shelf for quite a long time. That means Krog will stick around for a while longer, or at least until Demitra comes back.
I was beginning to like seeing Hordichuk and Rypien play together earlier on. There was some chemistry there.

Sami Salo will be a game time decision for tomorrow's game against the Bruins.

T Tags: Canucks+injuries+update Rick+Rypien+injured+again groin Sami+Salo+to+return October+2008

Rutherford's anger understandable, because he's seen Canes KO'd so often

But that is really about it. The hit by Doug Weight on Brandon Sutter was a beauty, and hopefully Sutter has learned a valuable lesson from it. He's got to keep his head up.

"I've had four players - Erik Cole, Trevor Letowski, Matt Cullen and now Brandon Sutter - get badly injured on hits to the head and only one of the guys who hit them was suspended. So don't tell me the league is concerned about hits to the head because it's not."

I don't mind hits to the head in this fashion. I think Don Cherry has always said the right thing, and that is that the hard plastic shoulder gear needs to go.
Anyways, for your viewing pleasure, here are the video clips of each of the aforementioned hits. I assume the one suspension Rutherford was referring to was Orpik's boarding of Cole? Well that's a different scenario as you'll see below.
Enough to make Canes fans cringe...

Weight hits Sutter



Colby Armstrong smokes Trevor Letowski



Colton Orr decks Matt Cullen



Brooks Orpik boards Eric Cole
(nasty stuff by Orpik. At the same time I hate it when the player turns at the last second as well and goes face first into the boards.)




T Tags: Weight+hits+Sutter Orpik+hits+Cole Armstrong+hits+Letowski Orr+hits+Cullen video clips KO injury Carolina+Hurricanes

Demitra out 3-4 weeks / Depressing Canucks stats

Demitra, (and this should not be shocking to anyone) will miss up to a month with torn cartilage in his ribs. He sustained the injury from either reaching for the puck or shooting it. Either way, Glass Joe lives! Does this concern me? Not one bit.
It means that Kyle Wellwood may keep his rightful place as a line 2 senter for an extended period on time. I sure hope he continually impresses there.

---

Elliot Papp of the Vancouver Sun has some sad stats of the Canucks' road trip posted in an article today. Here is an excerpt:

Yes, it's a cruel world. And the Canucks' performance on their just completed six-game road trip - featuring four outright losses in the last five - was ghastly.

The Canucks collected four of a possible 12 points for a winning percentage of .333. Their opponents, meanwhile, collected 10 of a possible 12 points thanks to the NHL's 'loser' point for overtime defeats. That's a success rate of .833.

You allow your foes, especially those in your conference, to pick up that kind of salad and you'll be compost come playoff time.

Coaches love it when their team plays with the lead. In the six road games totalling 364:21, the Canucks led for 16:33 - with 14:52 of that coming in one game against Detroit. They never led for a second against Washington, Buffalo and Columbus.

Unreal, huh? I'm not completely worried yet. Wellwood is our saviour, and the Canucks should play better at home. Papp mentioned that the Canucks are perfect at home this season scoring 6 goals and allowing none against. Nice sarcasm! That was the 6-0 killing of Calgary in game 1.
Check out more of Papp's article here. Then pour yourself a drink.

T Tags: Demitra+injury+update torn+cartlage+ribs out+four+weeks Canucks+road+stats October+2008

Demitra out with torso injury plus roster updates

You know, it's funny. I was commenting on my semi-live blogging of the Canucks-Hawks game that Demitra was showing a little more grit as the game went on. Then all of a sudden he wasn't on the bench anymore with an undisclosed injury. How ironic. Demitra is no stranger to injuries. Apparently, he hurt his ribs after taking a shot! It's true! I guess he's been passing too much lately and didn't have his shooting muscles up to snuff. (Utter obscenities here) So if Salo is Glass Joe, what is a good nickname for Demitra?
But this is a positive. Yeah, I know there are plenty of people out there who love Pavol with blind faith, but let's be honest: he hasn't even come close to showing his potential here. Not yet anyways. So the Vancouver Province mentions today that Kyle Wellwood could be called up from Manitoba to be the 2nd line center replacement. That means that he would have to clear re-entry waivers to make the Canucks squad. What are the chances he does that? Well, given all the bad press he has received for being out of shape I'd say those chances are quite high.
I would say that Michel Ouellet (who, like a commentor said, has 6 points in 4 games with the Moose) should get a chance, but the problem with him is that he's a right winger and I don't know if he ever plays center. Vancouver's lousy line 2 needs a natural center, which is where Wellwood fits the bill.
Let's hope Wellwood gets the ball rolling on Line 2 and shuts up Mike the Yankee Wellwood hater! (haha)

I see on the CDC forums that the Canucks may be putting Matt Pettinger on re-entry waivers as well to fill in for Darcy Hordichuk, who will be out 7-10 days with a knee injury after colliding with Ryan Johnson. Pettinger is red hot for the Moose right now. Let's see if he also clears re-entry waivers. He should.
This still prompts me to wonder when Ouellet will get a chance.

So we can assume Rob Davison will fill the #6 position on the Canucks' blueline in Salo's absence then? Probably.

T Tags: Canucks+injuries+October+2008 Salo Hordichuk Demitra Kyle+Wellwood Matt Pettinger re-entry+waivers

Bieksa could play Sunday / Wellwood clears waivers

Link to story.

Bieksa out 7-10 days

He had an MRI today and the results have not been released yet. But doctors in Vancouver have already stated that the injury is not that serious.

Link to story.

T Tags: Kevin+Bieksa+injury+update October+14+2008

Bieksa to undergo MRI today

Bieksa didn't have to cross over to nail Wayne Primeau last night but he did. Salo was right there to take the Flames checker. But that's what kind of game it was.
I watch every Canucks game with a bit of anxiety these days. Whenever one of our defencemen hits someone or takes a hit (like Phaneuf sending Edler flying) I cringe. I don't want the same problem with injured defencemen as last year. It was our biggest Achille's heel.
So when Bieksa went down last night, there was plenty of reasons to be concerned. We need these guys to play all year. Bieksa is looking poised to repeat the year he had before last season. He logs towards 30:00 per game. We NEED this guy.
We'll see what length of time he misses.

"It's tough to say, it's just a bit sore with some swelling," Bieksa said. "We'll find out tomorrow, I guess. We'll have a few more tests and we'll find out for sure."

Sounds positive, right?
Stay tuned.

T Tags: Kevin+Bieksa+leg+injury MRI oh+shit

Mason Raymond out for a month

Keith Ballard's knee-on-knee hit on Mason Raymond last night has damaged Mason's MCL. He will miss 1 month of action and should be ready if the Canucks make the playoffs. The clip and the pic show it was a knee-on-knee hit, but I think it was quite unintentional by Ballard, who is known for big hits and hip checks. Thanks to commentor Peter Borgstrom for giving me this link to a clip of Ballard nailing Cam Barker with a hip check.
Vigneault didn't like it.

"In my opinion that was a vicious hit on Mason," said Vigneault. "I didn't like that at all, knee on knee, and I'm really hoping the league is going to review that."

Vicious, yes. But I'm pretty sure Ballard was trying to crunch Raymond into the boards with his hip originally.
Another injury to the Canucks. It's been quite a year for that hasn't it? Raymond had been slowing a little lately offensively, but still showed tonnes of hustle. Who is going to step into his role now? Jason Jaffray? Jannik Hansen?

T Tags: Mason+Raymond+injury MCL Canucks

Canucks-Blues Preview: Injury news keeps getting better

Worst-case scenario's turned into good ones today as the Canucks' injury situation is looking pretty positive.
-Mattias Ohlund's knee won't get any worse if he continues playing, even if there are bone chips in it.

"The only thing that can happen is that I'm too sore to play but there's no danger - I'm not going to hurt myself any more," said Ohlund following the skate. "I'm optimistic, I'm feeling pretty good out there and I'm hoping to play".

Sounds good to me.
-Kevin Bieksa's wrist is fine and he will play tonight. Hopefully his game continues to excel.
-Ryan Kesler should play tonight after taking a shot off the ankle last game.

"It's pretty sore still, I took a shot right off the skin but nothing I can't play through," said Kesler.

-Aaron Miller did not practice today, but is expected to return to the lineup in 7-10 days. That's pretty positive indeed.
-Brendan Morrison is close to playing but his exact return date is not known.
-Sick Sami Salo will still play even though he has the flu.

---

The Canucks look to get another great start tonight as they did against the Preds. We just need Luongo to be a little more consistent, as he was shakey in the first period last game. The Blues have only won 1 in their last 5 and are struggling. Vancouver needs to get the lead and play their game the Vigneault way. I am not counting on a 6 goal outburst by the Canucks tonight or even any time soon, so they have to stay defensively tight. I'm not saying I wouldn't mind a 6-goal outburst! It would be great to see the Sedins hit the scoresheet and the Shannon-Raymond-Pettinger line continue their success.
A loss tonight is not acceptable. We are better than the Blues. We are 2 points out of a playoff spot and this game tonight is one of the 2 games we have in hand over 8th place Nashville.

I say the Canucks take this one 4-2.

DID YOU KNOW

The Canucks, by my calculation, have endured 12 shootouts this seasson. They lost 7 of those shootouts. Isn't it amazing how valuable that extra point is??? That's 7 missed points!! That can be a huge difference in making the playoffs or not. Shooting for a win in regulation is and should be the Canucks' main focus.

T Tags: Canucks Blues Preview Injury+update shootout

Injury-Illness Bug Hits Canucks

Well, there's good and bad news coming out of the Canucks' camp following last night's slaughter of the Predators.
Aaron Miller's shoulder was not separated after being hit by Jordin Tootoo. That means he won't miss much time. He will not play Saturday against the Blues, but a fully capable Mike Weaver will. That's good news. Now on to the bad news.
-Kevin Bieksa injured his wrist after his fight with Greg DeVries. I bet it was that first punch that did it. Nice overhand right. His wrist was X-rayed today, but there is no further word on his prognosis. Bieksa had a great game and it's a shame he had to hurt himself in a fight. We need him in the lineup. Save the fighting for the GOONS!
-Ryan Kesler took a shot off the foot last night and hobbled off the ice in serious pain. Then he came back. He recieved X-Rays today as well but the results are unknown, and he is qustionable for tomorrow night's game. Can't lose Kess.
-Sami "Glass" Salo is now battling the flu bug. And the bug is winning. However, he is not expected to miss Saturday's game. God, this guy is like Peter Forsberg the 2nd.
So I guess overall the news for these players isn't all that bad. Not a lot of time is going to be missed. The Canucks need to stay healthy and keep up that torrid pace that we saw against Nashville.

T Tags: Injuries Salo Bieksa Miller Kesler Canucks

Canucks injury news

From the Vancouver Province:

"We think there's a possibility I might have to undergo surgery again," Brendan Morrison said Sunday during wrap-up day at GM Place. "I can't tell you when it's going to be or if it's going to be. But I think there's something wrong."
Morrison said he felt sore pushing off, a common trait for such an injury.
"Coming back up ice on the backcheck, it was really pretty tender to do a 100-per-cent push and it just kind of lingered."

Rory Fitzpatrick suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder in Game 2 against the Ducks. He is consulting doctors to see if surgery is required.

Kevin Bieksa said he had the flu during his absences in Round 2, but, of course, in reality he had 3 stomach muscle tears: 2 oblique tears in the front and 1 in the back. That injury occurred in Game 6 against Dallas.

"It bothered me for a bit and when I was clearing the puck on a penalty kill, I kind of had some resistance from the other guy's stick and the torque on my body is where I really felt it," Bieksa said.

Cooke said he would have been ready if the Canucks had played a 6th game against Anaheim. Too little too late, Cooker.

T Tags: Canucks Injuries Morrison Fitzpatrick Bieksa Cooke

Canucks Injuries / Edler Recalled/Naslund Calls Nucks Underdogs **UPDATED**

From TSN:

Defenceman Sami Salo is probable for Game 1 (flu and back) and Kevin Bieksa says he is questionable (undisclosed). Coach Alain Vigneault said both blueliners will play against Anaheim.

But Vigneault doesn't specify which game Bieksa will be back. And probable isn't 100% for Salo. This sucks.

The Canucks are taking no chances, as they called up Alex Edler today. Edler did score a goal against the Ducks this season in a 2-1 loss November 30th. I guess we could expect to see Rory Fitzpatrick play first, and Edler second in the absenses of Salo and/or Bieksa.

**UPDATE**

From Sportsnet:

One question for the Canucks is the health of defenceman Kevin Bieksa. He missed parts of Game 6 and the final two-and-a-half minutes of Game 7 with what the team is calling a flu."I'm not feeling good and had some blood work done and I'm waiting for the results," Bieksa said. "I don't exactly know what it is, but I'm trying to find out."The Canucks say Bieksa will play but the defenceman isn't so sure."Obviously I want to play in the playoffs and help my team out, but if I can't help my team, there's no point in playing," he said.

Markus Naslund is referring to the Canucks as underdogs now. From Sportsnet:

"I think we are an underdog," Naslund said before boarding a plane to Anaheim Tuesday. "That works fine for us."
The Ducks are well rested and playing at home, but Naslund thinks the short turn around between series could help the Canucks.
I think it could work in our favour," he said. "We have all the adrenaline going still. Hopefully we can keep carrying on. We know it's going to be a tough building to go in and play. I think we are ready and it's gong to be fun."

I agree that the Canucks are underdogs. I don't like their chances from a realistic point of view, plus the TSN panelists and I'm sure most other outlets are picking the Ducks to win this series.
It's good that the Canucks are aware that no one is predicting them to win. It sure didn't hurt them against Dallas in Game 7 did it?


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