Ohlund’s back!
Quoted from the Vancouver Sun:
ATLANTA — Defenceman Mattias Ohlund rejoined his Canuck teammates this morning and will be in the lineup tonight when Vancouver closes out a four-game road trip against the Atlanta Thrashers.
Ohlund, who returned home to deal with an undisclosed personal matter and missed Tuesday night’s game in Dallas, flew to Atlanta early today and skated at Philips Arena for a few minutes after his teammates had completed their morning game-day skate.
“I slept pretty good on the plane, so I don’t feel too bad,” Ohlund said.
Ohlund’s return is a relief to the Canucks, who are already missing four injured defencemen in Willie Mitchell (back), Lukas Krajicek (shoulder), Aaron Miller (foot) and Kevin Bieksa (calf).
“The new guys came in and played extremely well for us in Dallas and it’s nice to be back here and hopefully we can start winning,” Ohlund said. “Obviously we need points and hopefully that can start tonight.”
Ohlund said his personal situation should not cost him any more games in the future.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “It was something I had to deal with and things are looking better now.”
With Ohlund back, the Canucks sent rookie defenceman Zack FitzGerald back to the Manitoba Moose. FitzGerald made his NHL debut in Tuesday night’s 3-2 shootout loss in Dallas.
The Canucks will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak and salvage something from this trip, which has yielded only a pair of shootout losses.
The Canucks have fallen to 10th place in the NHL’s Western Conference and are currently two points out of a playoff spot.
“We have to get back to winning and get some confidence,” said winger Daniel Sedin. “We’re in tight games all the time and we need to start winning them.”
The Canucks will return home immediately after tonight’s game and play host to Colorado on Saturday night and the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.
Fabian Brunnstrom wants to play for the Canucks
Dave Tomlinson on the TEAM 1040 is reporting his sources tell him that highly-touted free agent prospect Fabian Brunnstrom wants to play for the Canucks and alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
He wants guaranteed top-six minutes for the team and bonuses that could him up to $3.5 million a season.
