Official Injury Updates

This is the official injury update from Canucks.com:

Ryan Kesler made his return to the lineup Wednesday night after missing 35 games because hip surgery but will not return for game two against the Stars Friday. Kesler is expected to be out four to five weeks after blocking a shot and displaced his finger.

Matt Cooke, who left in the second period of Wednesday’s game is listed as day-to-day wild a mild groin strain and Alex Burrows is also day-to-day with an upper body injury that saw him limp his way to bench in the first overtime period.

The Canucks recalled Jannik Hansen and Nathan Smith of the Manitoba Moose Thursday afternoon as a precautionary measure in case Cooke and Burrows can’t dress Friday night. Smith will likely see time on the PK and Vigneault hopes Hansen will help balance out the roster with some offensive punch if he dresses for game two against Dallas.

Brent Sopel is hopeful for his return Friday night. Dany Sabourin and Tommi Santala were the only two players that took to the ice Thursday while the rest of the team did off-ice workouts.

Canucks recall Smith and Hansen

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that centre Nathan Smith and winger Jannik Hansen has been recalled from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

Matt Cooke, Alexandre Burrows, and Ryan Kesler were injured last night and will not play tomorrow in Game 2.
Cooke is out with a groin stain and is day-to-day.
Burrows is out with a upper-body injury. Looks like to me that Burrows might have a concussion as he couldn’t get up after the hit delivered to him. If it is a concussion, he will be out for at least one week.

Kesler broke his finger in the game and will be out 4-5 weeks.

Both Tommi Santala and Jannik Hansen are expected to be dressed tomorrow in Game 2. If Kesler can’t go tomorrow, Nathan Smith will get into the lineup.

If anybody cares: Hansen wore #59 with the Canucks during the preseason and currently wears #17 with the Moose. He won’t be wearing #17 since it is Kesler’s number. He will most likely switch to a lower number.

Hansen was also one of the last cuts for the Canucks in the preseason.

NHL announces 2007 Stanley Cup Conference Quarterfinal schedule

You can find the full schedule at NHL.com, but as of right now the HTML code to the page is all screwed up so you can’t really read it right now. But you can copy everything, paste it into a Word document and you can read.

The Canucks schedule:

1. Wednesday, April 11 | 10:00 p.m. | Dallas at Vancouver | CBC, RDS, VERSUS
2. Friday, April, 13 | 9:00 p.m. | Dallas at Vancouver | CBC, RDS, VERSUS
3. Sunday, April 15 | 8:30 p.m. | Vancouver at Dallas | VERSUS, CBC, RDS
4. Tuesday, April 17 | 8:00 p.m. | Vancouver at Dallas | CBC, RDS (JIP)
5. * Thursday, April 19 | TBD | Dallas at Vancouver | CBC, RDS, VERSUS
6. * Saturday, April 21 | 8:00 p.m. | Vancouver at Dallas | VERSUS, CBC, RDS
7. * Monday, April 23 | TBD | Dallas at Vancouver | CBC, RDS, VERSUS

Canucks TV coming soon?

In an interview with the Vancouver Province, Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini discussed a wide-range of topics including the possibility of a Canucks TV channel.

Aquilini says Orca Bay CEO Chris Zimmerman and his group of staff “are working hard to try to get more high-def games available” to the fans. He also says that they’re leaning towards to less games on pay-per-view instead of more.

Gallagher states that the lack of HD broadcasts is the result of Roger Sportsnet’s lack of HD trucks which are worth about $4 million each and Shaw Cable “not wanting to go to high def with so few homes having high-def sets.” He continues by saying the Canucks could switch carriers, but they won’t be able to reach the majority of the homes since most people have Shaw.

Aquilini then suggests that there maybe a Canucks TV channel next year if Zimmerman and his team decides to go that route. He says that the coverage will be improved.

Finally, Aquilin says that they will keep the orca logo next year and in the future and says he’s “not interested in a jersey money grab.”

Source: Vancouver Province

If you want to read the full article, you can click on the link above. Don Taylor while on his show (Pratt and Taylor) on the TEAM 1040, he stated that Rogers Sportsnet has the money to get a HD truck for Canucks games and they want to, but the government prohibits them from broadcasting the Canucks games in HD for whatever reason. Taylor is the one that’s probably right since he’s the one working for Rogers Sportsnet.

Cory Schneider Wants Trade?

Andy Strickland of Hockey Buzz is reporting Canucks prospect Cory Schneider may want a trade out of Vancouver:

Speaking of Schneider, I hear some rumblings coming from BC’s camp that Schneider is hoping to be traded out of Vancouver with Roberto Luongo holding that position on lockdown. The Canucks drafted Schneider in the first round back in 2004.

Source: Andy Strickland/Hockey Buzz

Last I heard, Cory Schneider is excited to be joining the Canucks organization and working with Roberto Luongo in the near future and learning a few things from him.

Canucks re-assign Grabner and Rahimi to Moose

The Vancouver Canucks will re-assign forward Michael Grabner from the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL and Daniel Rahimi from Bjorkleven IF in Sweden to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL once they’ve secured amateur tryout contracts with the Moose.

Grabner, 19, and his WHL team the Spokane Chiefs were recently eliminated from the WHL playoffs by the Everett Silvertips in 6 games. In 55 games with the club during the regular season, he scored 39 goals and added 16 assists. He was held to one assist in playoffs. Grabner was originally Vancouver’s first pick, 14th overall in 2006.

Rahimi, 19, was Vancouver’s second choice, 82nd overall in 2006. Less than a month after being drafted by the Canucks, he was signed to a three-year contract that will pay him at least $750,000 US per year.

Source: Ken Wiebe/Sun Media

Tremblay and Coulombe Demoted

The Vancouver Canucks yesterday announced that defenceman Yannick Tremblay has been assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

The Manitoba Moose announced today that defenceman Patrick Coulombe has been assigned to the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL.

Source: TheAHL.com

Last time Coulombe got demoted to the ECHL, he stayed for a week and then was recalled back to the AHL. Too small for the big leagues? I haven’t heard of many defenceman that made it to the NHL being 5′9″ and 163 pounds. How about try converting him to a forward and maybe he’ll become the next Martin St. Louis?!?!?!??!

Andy Murray to coach Team Canada

Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman and Hockey Canada will announce the coaches for the upcoming World Hockey Championships in Russia at 4pm PST.

St. Louis Blues head coach Andy Murray is expected to be named head coach. Kings and former Canucks assistant coach Mike Johnston and former Jackets head coach Gerard Gallant will be the assistant coaches.

Players expected to be on the initial list of players to attend include Columbus’s Rick Nash, Phoenix’s Shane Doan, St. Louis’s Eric Brewer, Los Angeles’s Mike Cammalleri, and Edmonton’s Dwayne Roloson.

Also, Florida’s Ed Belfour and Philadelphia’s Martin Biron are being considered to join Team Canada. But they’d like to save one spot for Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, or Marc-Andre Fleury, just in case they’d be interested in playing if their respective teams are eliminated from the playoffs in the first round.

Source: TSN.ca

Nah, no need to save a spot for Luongo, cause we’re going all the way. 

Pyatt seeking a three-year contract

CKNW 980 is reporting Vanocouver Canucks forward Taylor Pyatt rejected a two-year contract worth $2.4 million and is seeking a three-year contract that will pay him $1.5 million, similar to a contract Matt Cooke got last year.

CKNW in Vancouver is reporting that the Canucks made a two-year, $2.4 million offer to Pyatt, and were subsequently told it would not be enough to retain the services of the 21-goal scorer. The Pyatt camp is apparently looking for a deal in the Matt Cooke range. Cooke, who has just eight goals, makes $1.5 million per season.

According to reports, Pyatt is also looking for a three-year deal.

Source: Sportsnet.ca

It would really suck if we lose Taylor Pyatt to free agency because he wants $300,000 more than the Canucks were willing to offer.

The new CBA is screwing us over……under the old CBA, Pyatt would of been a restricted free agent. But as per the new CBA, to qualify to be a Group III free agent, you need to be 27 or have 7 accrued seasons. Pyatt broke into the league at a young age, so he’s a free agent at 25 years old. To makes things worst, even though there was no NHL season in 2004-05, they made that year count as an accrued season in the NHL. Pyatt would of had only 6 accrued seasons.

Canucks re-sign Sami Salo

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that defenceman Sami Salo has signed a four-year contract extension worth $14 million US.

“We are pleased to have agreed to a long-term extension with Sami today,” said Nonis in a release. “Sami is an elite defenceman who compliments our group very well. We are confident that he will continue to perform at the high level he has established for himself over the next four seasons.”

“His primary motivation was to stay in Vancouver and is secondary motivation was to win in Vancouver,” said Salo’s agent Bill Zito. “If he decided to become a free agent, there is no question he could have got millions more. There aren’t too many players who would do what he did.”

Source: Canucks.com / The Province

This is a great for the Canucks, he’s a very important part of the Canucks and we really struggled last year when he was out of the lineup down the stretch. We also have unconfirmed reports the Canucks have also re-signed defenceman Yannick Tremblay to a contract extension.