Injury | Rob The Hockey Guy

Why Aren’t the Bruins the Most Hated Team in the NHL?

November 20, 2011 Rob 7 Comments Injury, Special Feature

I’m not sure when exactly this began, but it’s pretty clear that the Vancouver Canucks are the most hated team in the NHL. We got more evidence of this when the recently retired Mark Recchi decided to offer this up: (In) 22 years they are the most arrogant team I played against and the most [...]

Hodgson Changes Number, Hopes to Rid Curse of the Number 39

October 3, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Injury, Random

Cody Hodgson has decided to switch numbers. He’ll be moving away from his familiar #39 in favour of the #9 jersey, and I’m all for it! The number 39 has not been kind of Cody Hodgson. In fact, it hasn’t been kind of anyone in Canuck history.

Kesler to Miss Start of Season; Cody Hodgson: Your Time is NOW

August 2, 2011 Rob 4 Comments Injury

The Canucks announced on Tuesday that Ryan Kesler underwent hip surgery and will be out 10-12 weeks, meaning that he’ll likely start the season in November. It’s interesting that they waited until August to do the surgery. Perhaps they were waiting to see if his hip would get better without surgery (as they claim) or perhaps there’s something sneakier going on. Is it possible that the Canucks purposely chose to have Ryan Kesler have surgery late in the summer, meaning that he would miss a month of the regular season while he recovers, thus saving precious cap space? Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but it’s certainly plausible. Having Sami Salo injured for more than half a season last year was of great reward to the Canucks, because they were able to save on the cap while still getting Salo back for the playoffs.

Aaron Rome Suspended 4 Games, NHL Lacks Consistency

June 7, 2011 Rob 6 Comments Injury, Playoffs

The NHL ruled on the Aaron Rome hit today, giving him a four game suspension. It’s the longest suspension in NHL Stanley Cup Final history and one of the longest in NHL playoff history. I was extremely surprised with the decision, because it lacks precedent. In my mind, it warranted a two game suspension.

Manny Malhotra will play in game 1

May 28, 2011 Rob 3 Comments Injury

Great news from the Canucks today, as it was revealed that Manny Malhotra has been medically cleared to play hockey again. Media outlets aren’t saying when he’s going to play, but I will. He will play in game 1. I base this on the fact that Cody Hodgson is getting very few minutes on the 4th line right now, and the fact that Malhotra has been skating for weeks. He should be in decent game shape. So if he’s medically able to play (which he is), he’ll play.

Manny Malhotra Skates, May Return This Season

May 11, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Injury, Rumours

It was a slow day in Canuckland today given that the team has been given their second day off without practicing and the fact that they won’t play game 1 of the conference finals until Sunday. That was, until Jason Botchford of the Province dropped this in the Twitter world:

No Suspension for Raffi Torres… I'm Confused

April 18, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Injury, Suspension

Unless you missed game 3 of the Blackhawks-Canucks series and are living under a rock, you already know that this Raffi Torres hit on Brent Seabrook has been a hot topic in the last 24 hours:

Malhotra Out for Season – Panic Ensues

March 21, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Injury

I’ve got to admit that when I heard the news this morning that Manny Malhotra would be lost for the regular season and playoffs due to his eye injury, I began a mini-panic. Weird that a season ending injury to a 30-35 point scorer could cause such angst, but anybody that has followed this team closely knows that he’s more than that.

Injured Canucks Defencemen – Then and Now

February 17, 2011 Rob 1 Comment Injury

The Vancouver Canucks will play tonight’s game in Nashville without Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Keith Ballard, Andrew Alberts and, as we found out this morning, Kevin Bieksa. That’s 5 of their top 7 defencemen out of the lineup. To make matters worse, minor leaguer Lee Sweatt broke his foot in practice. Even the Manitoba Moose have injury troubles on the blueline, with Nolan Baumgartner suffering an injury last week. He might have been one of the recent call-ups.

Sergei Shirokov called up… Why?

January 17, 2011 Rob 0 Comments Injury, Rumours

My eyebrow was raised a little bit with the news this morning that Sergei Shirokov has been re-called by the Vancouver Canucks. Remember him? Shirokov had some good seasons in Russia since being drafted by the Canucks in the sixth round back in 2006. He made the move to North America last year, dazzled everyone in preseason and earned a spot on opening night.