Get Ready for a Rough Ride
Finally some good news on the Canucks injury front as Rick Rypien is finally ready to make his season debut tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. Good timing too, especially with Alex Bolduc suffering a rumored high ankle sprain, Guillaume Desbiens reportedly tweaking his back, and Jeff Tambellini looking out of place on the fourth line.
The Canucks will welcome Rypien’s feistiness. The Ducks haven’t won a game this season – they’ve lost their first 3 games on the road – but lead the NHL in penalty minutes by a large margin. They’ve taken 40 penalties totaling 141 penalty minutes, including a line brawl against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night. (In comparison, the Blues have the second-most PIMs with 88, and the Canucks only have 16 PIMs.)
Needless to say, the Ducks are a frustrated team. I hope the Canucks are ready for a rough one.
Some pregame reading:
- Canucks not concerned about power shortage despite three goals in two games (Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun)
- Canucks’ Dan Hamhuis misses practice with sore groin, but should be OK to face Ducks (Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun)
- Cory Schneider quietly awaits his shot with Canucks (Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun)
- No Burrows having trickle-down impact with Canucks (Jim Jamieson, Vancouver Province)
- Speedy Hansen getting a shot on Canucks no. 2 line (Jim Jamieson, Vancouver Province)
- Manny sticks with slick faceoffs (Gordon McIntyre, Vancouver Province)
- Plenty of hope for Hodgson (Tony Gallagher, Vancouver Province)
- Clean slate for prospect’s pro career (Tim Campbell, Winnipeg Free Press)
- Gloom and doom for the Anaheim Ducks (Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail)
- Game Day Recon (Canucks Army)
