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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 season so these injuries might not affect them too much but it’s definitely going to make capturing the division title a little tougher.

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"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 Nucks lover but I really do like the Sedin twins, particularly Daniel, so I’m disappointed that this is happening so early in the season.  Looks like Vancouver is off to a less than stellar start.

The fracture happened when Sedin was hit in the foot by a shot from a teammate during Vancouver’s 7-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens last week.

I guess Daniel and his brother, Henrik, won’t have matching stats this year.  "I’m hoping I can be very effective without Daniel," Henrik said. "I think it’s the same thing on any team if you have two good players that play a lot together: if one gets injured the other is affected for sure. Not because we’re twins but because Danny is a good player."

Hopefully, Daniel will be back in action in four weeks rather than six.

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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 as first game rust but then they played the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and were shut out.  Again, I shrugged it off but last night’s game was actually the worst, despite the fact that Vancouver got on the score board.

It sucked that they were at home for the first time this year since the game was so disappointing.  It is dumbfounding to me that Kristian Huselius, Rotislav Klesla and Nikita Filatov all put one past Luongo in – wait for it – three minutes 44 seconds.  He ended up with a magnificent 0.666 save percentage before being replaced by Andrew Raycroft.

Luongo is the team captain and was given a 12-year, $64-million deal just before the season began and I’m telling you, those contracts are a bad idea for about a million reasons.

Anyway, they were undefeated in the pre-season so maybe they will be able to recapture some of that magic soon.

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"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 championship team here in Vancouver."

I think that this is great because, despite the fact that the Canucks are among my least favorite teams, I’ve got to say that keeping their core players and their coach is smart since, obviously, they mesh well and really could be dangerous this coming season. 

During his three seasons behind the bench, Vigneault has had a 133-86-27 record with a .595 winning percentage, which is the best performance of any Vancouver coach in the club’s history.

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"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 the doctors went in to repair the damage, they also found bone chips. 

Demitra had a decent season with 20 goals and 33 assists in 69 games but I don’t think this is going to be a major loss for Vancouver in the immediate future.  They have a lot of young prospects, including Cody Hodgson, who would love the chance to step up and prove themselves so I think this could work out well for the team.  They’ll get to test out their new talent, Demitra will get to rest and then they will benefit from having him back in the lineup when the season is in full swing.  This isn’t something to worry about, in my opinion.

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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 the leader of our hockey team; he is in the prime of his playing career and has a tremendous desire to make the Canucks a championship team.  His leadership, competitiveness and character are what this team will represent for many years to come."

Luongo seems happy about the whole thing as well:  "This is a great day for me and my family.  I love playing in a passionate hockey city like Vancouver, and along with my teammates I am committed to doing everything I can to help make this a championship team."

The 30-year-old, three time All-Star will also play for Team Canada at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (at least he’ll be familiar with the venue…).

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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 one of the best goaltenders in the league (ugh, I can’t believe I just admitted to that), he’s their team captain and his hometown just named an arena after him!  Give him what he wants!

Luongo is here in Calgary right now attending Hockey Canada’s 2010 Olympic summer orientation camp and he’s made it clear that he wants this settled before the Canucks’ training camp begins.  He said:  “We’re trying to get it done before camp.  If it doesn’t happen before camp, I will not be negotiating during the season. I don’t want to have that distraction.”

Vancouver GM, Mike Gillis, echoed his goalie’s words:  “I’d prefer that we have it wrapped up [by the start of training camp].  We’re all confident that we’re moving in the right direction.”

At just 30 years old, Luongo should still have some pretty good years left in him, especially when you look at his record last season when he posted a 33-13-7, nine shutouts and a 2.34 goals-against average. He will make $7.5-million for the 2009-10 season but this will be the final year of his four-year, $27 million contract.

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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 nothing more than that.”  The Canucks, with whom he signed a four-year contract extension in March, have no comment except to say that the team was “gathering all the facts.”

I know that hockey is a physical sport but rules are in place for a reason and it stuns me when someone gets so upset that they do something potentially dangerous.  I know it can be frustrating when you’re struggling during a game but it’s not worth smashing someone in the face.  I don’t know if he will face any disciplinary consequences with the Canucks if he’s found guilty of misconduct but, hopefully, they will talk with him about his actions.

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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 damage."

He had a decent season with the Detroit Red Wings last season.  During the regular season, he posted 40 points in 81 games and 10 points in 23 playoff games.

He definitely has experience too.  He’s played in 466 NHL games and he also was part of Sweden’s gold medal-winning team at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino.  

I think he could be really good in Vancouver’s lineup and I’m interested in seeing his chemistry with Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

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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 game is exceptional; both Daniel and Henrik are committed to winning and we want them to succeed as Vancouver Canucks."

You really can’t replace a player who is committed to the team so having two of them on the ice is a real bonus.  Together, the pair have compiled 288 goals, 634 assists, and 922 points in 1,288 games.  In true twin style, they racked up 82 points during the 2008-2009 season with Henrik scoring 22 goals (a career high) and Daniel leading the Canucks with 31 goals.

Henrik and Daniel originally asked for 12-year deals with $63 million each but, according to their agent JP Barry, “They’re happy that this deal got to the range that it was fair."  It is a significant raise – they only made $3.75 million apiece last season.

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