CANUCKS COULD BE WITHOUT LUONGO TONIGHT
Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault could be forced to start seldom-used backup goaltender Curtis Sanford for Friday's game in Minnesota if No. 1 Roberto Luongo remains in Florida.
Luongo left he NHL team early Thursday morning to be with his wife Gina, who was expected to give birth to the couple's first child.
If he's not able to rejoin the team in time for the 7pm Central Time faceoff, the Canucks were expected to recall Cory Schneider or Drew MacIntyre from their American Hockey League affiliate in Manitoba to back up Sanford.
Vancouver, losers of three in a row, occupy the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Canucks have 86 points, two more than ninth-place Nashville and three ahead of the No. 10 Edmonton Oilers.
Luongo, who was pulled in the second period of Wednesday's 6-3 loss to Colorado after allowing five goals on 23 shots, is third in the NHL this season with a .921 save percentage.
In January, he left the Canucks and skipped the league all-star game to spend time with his wife.
In other Canucks news, centre Brendan Morrison will miss the remainder of the regular season and playoffs with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He was hurt two minutes into the second period of Wednesday's game as he was taken lightly toward the boards by Avalanche defenceman Ruslan Salei.
About Me
- Christopher's Crease
- After working in Radio for 6+ years as a Sports Director and play-by-play man at a handful of stations in the Dakota's and Southern Minnesota covering College Basketball along with High School Hockey / Baseball / Basketball / Football, I moved back home to Minneapolis and hooked up with a noted local youth hockey coach who started a one of it's kind hockey website that has now turned into MNHOCKEYHUB.COM & MYFOXHOCKEY.COM. I currently cover the Minnesota Wild and U of M Women's Hockey Team for MYFOXHOCKEY.COM