The Vancouver Canucks will have to be without another of their key players after defenceman, Sami Salo, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.  He will be out of the lineup for up to six weeks.  Not good.

This comes after an MRI revealed that Daniel Sedin had fractured his foot and Pavel Demitra‘s recovery from a shoulder injury ended up being longer than originally anticipated.  The team is still waiting for Mathieu Schneider, who they acquired during the off-season, to be ready to join the lineup.  Overall, it’s a nightmare.
Of course, it’s still really early in the …read more

If you’re a Vancouver Canucks fan, this is terrible news – Daniel Sedin will be on the bench for 4-6 weeks after breaking his foot.  Incredibly, this is the first time he’s been sidelined with a serious injury in his nine year career. 
"It’s unfortunate, but I’ve been lucky so far, I played a lot of games over nine years so it was bound to happen," said Sedin. "I’ve been told four to six weeks so I’m shooting for three."
Daniel is the team’s best goal-scorer, averaging 30 goals per season for the last three years.  I’m not a huge …read more

I hear the curse of long-term contracts knocking on the door of Vancouver Canucks goaltender, Roberto Luongo.  Seriously, friends.  I know it’s so early in the season but this is definitely worth talking about.

The Canucks lost 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.  I’ll get to the details on this nightmare but, first, let’s look at their start to this season so far.  They’ve played three games and they’ve lost three games.
I watched their opener since it was against the Calgary Flames and almost instantly I was asking if there was something off about Luongo.  I shrugged it off …read more

The season is about to begin and there’s all kinds of coach changes going on but it looks like the Vancouver Canucks have decided to stick with what works since they offered head coach, Alain Vigneault, a new contract that will keep him with the team until the 2012-2013 season.
"This is a significant announcement for our hockey club," said Mike Gillis. "Alain and his staff have done an excellent job leading our team to two Division titles in three years. I believe strongly in the partnership between management, coaches and players and we are all committed to building a …read more

The Vancouver Canucks will be without one of their core players when the season begins.  Pavol Demitra won’t be able to to dress when the team hits the ice next month since he will be out at least six more weeks after having shoulder surgery at the end of last season.
"The shoulder is not quite strong enough yet," Demitra said.  "I started skating last two weeks back home in Slovakia and day by day it’s getting better."
The veteran winger tore his front and back rotator cuff and was forced to sit out of Vancouver’s final four playoff games.  When …read more

It’s about flipping time.  I really thought the Vancouver Canucks would have been aggressive about re-signing captain and goaltender, Roberto Luongo, but, instead, they waited until just a month before the season began.
Luongo was offered a pretty sweet deal, though, but if you’re like me, you think these long-term contracts are a jinx.  The netminder has signed on for 12 more years with the club for a whopping $64 million.  This means that he will be with the team until the 2021-22 season.  I swear that doesn’t even sound right!
GM Mike Gillis said of the deal: "Roberto Luongo is …read more

Yesterday, I read a familiar headline and it just irritated me (which is saying a lot since the whole Phoenix Coyotes drama is really testing my sanity) – “Luongo Contract Negotiations Deadline Set.”
The Vancouver Canucks are starting to piss me off.  Earlier this summer, they dragged their feet over renewing their contract with the Sedin Twins and I think that’s far more understandable that this weirdness with Roberto Luongo.
Apparently, the netminder and the team have until September 13, 2009 to come up with something and I’m pretty shocked.  We’re not talking about some body on the ice – Luongo is …read more

Alex Burrows could be in a lot of trouble after an on-ice incident in a PHL (Montreal summer hockey league) game.  The Vancouver Canucks forward allegedly struck a goaltender in the face with his stick during a game at the Excellent Ice Arena in Kirkland, Quebec (wow, I have been there!).

Now RDS.ca is reporting (it’s in French) that the situation is under investigation after a complaint was filed on July 21, 2009.  Burrow’s agent said: “police went to the arena, but there are no charges right now. [Police arrived] because some people called the police. They spoke with Alex but …read more

After securing the Sedin twins, the Vancouver Canucks have added Mikael Samuelsson to their roster by offering the winger a three-year, $7.5 million deal.
Samuelsson seems happy with the transaction.  In a conference call he said: "Obviously that (the money) was the key, I shouldn’t lie.   They have a good thing going and I think my role can be a little different here. I like the team.  When you play against Vancouver it’s always a hard game and a skill game too.  You need some experience (to win the Cup). You need to be hungry. I believe we can do some …read more

Both Henrik and Daniel Sedin have signed 5-year deals, which include no-movement clauses, with the Vancouver Canucks and will ear $6.1 million per season.  I was hoping they would get to stay with the hockey club that drafted them back in 1999 but I do think they deserved a higher salary.  I realize that giving two players the same deal is expensive so I hope they are happy with the results.

GM Mike Gillis said: "Daniel and Henrik Sedin are this club’s offensive leaders and players we want to build around.  Their level of performance in every area of the …read more