Canucks begin five-game road trip against Winnipeg

WINNIPEG (NEWS1130) – The Canucks hit the road for five games starting in Winnipeg against the Jets, before heading in to the Olympic break. Vancouver is desperate for wins, having dropped 11 of its last 15 games.

The Jets have played well in January after firing their Head Coach Claude Noel and replacing him with Paul Maurice. With Maurice at the helm, Winnipeg has not lost two straight games.

Roberto Luongo will watch this one from the bench, as Eddie Lack gets the start for the Canucks, but Luongo knows how dangerous the Jets can be.

“They are playing really well. Right now they are one of the hottest teams in the league. It is going to be a tough game, just like every other one. They are hard working guys and they have some skill up front. We have to be ready to play they way we know how to play and that is what is going to matter.”

It will be the first time Vancouver has played in Winnipeg since February 21st, 1996. The Canucks won that game 5-3 thanks to Alex Mogilny’s three-point performance.

The game is a homecoming of sorts for many of the Canucks players. Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Jordan Schroeder, Kevin Bieksa, Chris Tanev, Eddie Lack, Jannik Hansen and Alex Edler all played for the Manitoba Moose when the Canucks farm team was located in Winnipeg. Burrows says he treasures his time in Winnipeg.

“I was pretty young back then. Everything was so much fun. Just to go to the rink and see a big rink with 15,000 crazy fans that were cheering you on, it was a lot of fun. It was a really good league that year because of the NHL lockout. There were a lot of good players who are now stars in the NHL.”

Head Coach John Tortorella is serving the final game of his suspension and Assistant Coach Mike Sullivan will be behind the bench. He says he has cautioned his players to take this road trip one game at a time.

“We want to try and go in to Winnipeg and give ourselves the best chance to be successful there and not look to far ahead. If we take that approach on a day-to-day basis I think this game will be fine.”

The Canucks will be trying to spark their sagging powerplay. They are 0-18 in their last five games. Henrik Sedin skated with the team this morning, but won’t play tonight because of his rib injury. Kevin Bieksa and Chris Tanev will also miss the game. Frank Corrado is expected to be in the lineup after being recalled from Utica yesterday.

Game time is 5:30 p.m. and News1130 will have updates every 10 minutes on the 5’s.