Tuesday January 19 - Vancouver Canucks at New York Rangers - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 46 GP, 19-17-10, 48 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
New York Rangers: 45 GP, 24-16-5, 53 pts, third in Metropolitan Division
The Vancouver Canucks will continue their road trip without captain Henrik Sedin as they visit the slumping New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Despite Henrik's optimistic attitude in his postgame comments after he was run into the boards by the New York Islanders' Mikhail Grabovski on Sunday, coach Willie Desjardins has ruled him out until after the All-Star Break.
He wouldn't get into specifics about the injury, beyond saying that it's "upper body."
When Daniel was selected as the Canucks' representative for the All-Star Game a couple of weeks ago, I felt a sense of relief that his banged-up brother would get the opportunity for some rest and relaxation rather than having to go play 3-on-3 in Nashville. Now, Henrik's break has been extended.
I'm sorry that he has another issue to rehabilitate but given Henrik's propensity to play through everything, I'm also sort of glad that he has been forced to the sidelines.
Hopefully he'll come back strong for the stretch run—the Canucks' schedule is reasonably easy in February, with only 11 games, but they'll play a tough 16 games in March.
As far as reinforcements, Brandon Sutter took part in his first full practice since November on Monday but according to
Ben Kuzma at
The Province, he might not be ready to play his old team in Pittsburgh on Saturday, as had been speculated:
“There’s nothing set in stone and this was the first day of full practice and a chance to do some pushing around and some one-on-one battles, which I haven’t done yet,” he said Monday. “It went really well and it’s nice to get this over with physically and mentally. I haven’t had any setbacks and from what I can understand, these things can be anywhere from four weeks to two months.
“You have to be patient. You don’t want to come back and re-injure it and be back to where you started.”
Sutter believes he needs a few more contact practices and that would only leave him with Wednesday and Friday to get ready to play his former team in Pittsburgh on Saturday. That seems like a stretch.
“We’re hoping he might play on trip, but time will tell,” cautioned Desjardins.
Here's how the lines were looking at Monday's practice. Jared McCann is expected to jump into Henrik's spot with Daniel and Hansen.
On Monday, it was looking like Jake Virtanen would draw back in after being scratched for Sunday's game, but today's morning skate appears to signal a chance of heart from Willie Desjardins, who originally had Brandon Prust pegged as tonight's scratch.
There's also one other possible wrinkle to consider:
Despite his heavy workload on Sunday against the Islanders, Ryan Miller will get his second straight start. I think Willie is trying to follow the "youth will be served" mantra but with McCann and Bo Horvat basically driving the bus tonight, he'll take a little comfort in using his veterans where he can squeeze them in.
The Canucks have been in New York City since Saturday—a rare situation where they were able to stay in the same hotel for four days during their visits to the Islanders and the Rangers.
Speaking of AV's Rangers, the team's hot start to the season is quickly becoming a distant memory. Never one to mince words,
Larry Brooks proclaims "The Rangers Are Done" in the headline of his column for today's
New York Post.
Brooks is hard on the Rangers' defense, especially Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, "whose drop-offs have been dramatic and apparently contagious."
He also complains about a lack of answers from coach Alain Vigneault, whose obtuseness was also an issue when he worked here in Vancouver:
Vigneault is less communicative than any coach I have ever covered on a daily basis. He explains nothing. You rarely know what he’s thinking. He is practiced at sidestepping direct questions about the lineup; combinations; players’ minutes and assignments; and player evaluation.
He basically speaks in a canned two-answers-fit-all loop. Doesn’t make Vigneault a bad guy — he is far from that — but you know almost nothing more about the team after talking with him than beforehand. So you’re left grasping for answers, much like the Rangers are grasping for solutions.
The Rangers are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games and now 18 points behind the league-leading Washington Capitals in their division after dropping a lackluster 5-2 decision to those Caps on Sunday.
A couple of Rangers players are question marks for tonight's game:
Despite Brooks' pessimism, the Rangers' biggest struggles have come on the road. They're still among the best teams in the league on home ice, with a 16-5-2 record at Madison Square Garden this season. Tonight's game won't be a walk in Central Park for the Canucks but a win would give them their first three-game winning streak of the season.
One place that Vancouver might be able to gain an edge is on the power play. A strong penalty kill is usually a trademark of a Vigneault team but that has not been the case for the last month or so. Since December 15, the Rangers have given up 15 goals while shorthanded in 15 games. Their penalty kill now ranks 24th in the league with a 78.8 percent success rate while Vancouver's has bounced back to 16th overall, at an even 80 percent.
There's not much to choose between the teams' power plays, either. The Rangers are 17th overall at 18 percent while Vancouver is 23rd at 17.2 percent.
Expect to see Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes for the Rangers, making his 37th start of the season. Ryan Miller will be starting his 31st game.
One other footnote: just 10 days after he was traded, Emerson Etem gets the chance to play against the team that gave up on him.
Etem has shown good chemistry with his old junior teammate Linden Vey since arriving in Vancouver but has yet to record his first point in a Canucks uniform.
Gino Odjick Update:
Yesterday, Thundachunk asked for an update on Gino Odjick's health.
The best recent info I can find is that his Twitter account is active again after having been dormant for awhile. The most recent retweet will put a smile on your face—Gino with Pavel and Bryan Adams at the first-ever concert at Rogers Arena back in 1995.
I saw Gino at the arena a couple of times last spring—he was in the alumni box during the playoffs and was looking pretty good.
Karin Larsen of CBC did a story on him at that time. Here's how his medical situation has unfolded since he made that heart-wrenching appearance in his wheelchair outside VGH in June of 2014.
Four and a half months of chemotherapy followed. It was hell, but it worked. The disease slowed. Odjick started, ever so slowly, to feel better.
Doctors now use the term "remission." The prognosis of a few months to live, has changed to three years.
When Gino's current three-year lease on life is over, he'll start working on the next three.
Peter Leech, a long-time friend Odjick's, who now acts as his helper/spokesperson, says Odjick's condition continues to improve.
He still takes 37 pills per day, and his heart will never function at full capacity again. But it's better than doctors ever imagined.
According to Leech, Gino says when his current three-year lease on life is over, he'll start working on the next three.
Hang in there, Gino!
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