Vancouver Canucks News

VANCOUVER (CP) _ The Vancouver Canucks re-signed centre Ryan Kessler to a three-year contract on Thursday. The 22-year-old had six goals and 10 assists in 48 games in 2006-07 before a hip injury knocked him out of the club's final 34 regular-season games. He returned in time for the playoffs but suffered a hand injury in Game 1 of the first-round series with Dallas that ended his year. Last summer as a restricted free agent, Kessler signed ...

A look at the eight first-round NHL playoff match-ups: East Buffalo (1) vs. NY Islanders (8) Season series: Buffalo led 3-1. Records: Buffalo 53-22-7, 113 pts.; Islanders 40-30-12, 92 pts. The Islanders are back in the playoffs after sitting out a year and the good news is they are 3-0 all-time in the post-season against the Sabres. The bad news is the last time they met was 1980 and their ...

Finding some elbow room in the tight Northwest Division of the NHL is like battling for space with an elephant in a phone booth. It's pretty crowded. The Vancouver Canucks will need a win over the Calgary Flames in Saturday night's game at the Pengrowth Saddledome (CBC, 10 p.m. ET) if they hope to remain first in the packed division. The Canucks then play the Oilers, another division rival, in ...

Coming into the season the Vancouver Canucks knew scoring goals wouldn't be easy, but even they didn't think it was going to be this hard. Vancouver has scored two or less goals in regulation time in its last eight NHL games. The Canucks, who are two games below .500 with a 8-10-1 record, have managed just 43 goals in 19 games. Their 2.26 goals-a-game average is second worst in the ...

Lukas Krajicek's first goal of the season lifted the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 victory in overtime over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. Krajicek took a shot from the left circle that went over the glove and shoulder of Nashville goalie Tomas Vokoun 2:32 into the extra period. Jan Bulis, Taylor Pyatt, and Brendan Morrison scored for Vancouver, which won for the third time in four games. Roberto Luongo stopped 37 shots for the Canucks. Scott Hartnell, J.P. ...

Sami Salo had one chance and little time. Salo scored with less than a second left in overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night. ``I thought there would be time for one move,'' he said. ``So that's what I did and just found a hole.'' Salo assisted on Markus Naslund's goal that sent the game into overtime. Naslund, who had an assist on the game-winner, tied the score ...

Two goals on their first two shots of the game proved to be all the Edmonton Oilers needed as they slipped past the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 Tuesday night. Ethan Moreau blasted a slapshot from the point over the shoulder of Canucks starter Dany Sabourin just 51 seconds in, scoring on Edmonton's first shot of the game. Two minutes later, the Oilers made it two-for-two when rookie Patrick Thoresen slipped a shot past Sabourin that the Vancouver goalie would probably ...

He scored the game's winning goal, but defenceman Sami Salo was dishing out a lot of credit to the Vancouver forwards for their strong defensive play following the Canucks 2-1 NHL win over the Edmonton Oilers Monday night. The Canucks threw a blanket over the Oilers high-power offence, limiting Edmonton to just 18 shots. The Vancouver forwards did a good job of slowing down the speedy Edmonton attackers and taking away scoring chances. ``All the forwards did an ...

Curtis Brown iced the game by scoring on a shorthanded breakaway in the third period and Milan Michalek collected two assists as the San Jose Sharks ruined the Vancouver Canucks home-opener Friday night with a 6-4 victory. Trailing 4-3, the Canucks had a chance to tie the game when they had a two-man advantage for 1:41. Brown was able to step out of the penalty box, pick up a loose puck behind the Canuck defence, then skate ...

It appears Bauer Nike Hockey executive Chris Zimmerman will be the next president and chief executive officer of the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver radio station News 1130 says the team will introduce Zimmerman at a news conference later today. Zimmerman was named CEO of Bauer Nike Hockey in 2003 after spending four years with Nike Golf. He played hockey at the University of Vermont and was an assistant coach at Babson ...

Manny Fernandez entered Tuesday night's game against rival Vancouver determined to put his last ugly outing behind him. He did just that, saving 30 shots in a duel with Roberto Luongo, who was beat on a nifty double-move backhander by Petteri Nummelin in the shootout that lifted the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 victory over the Canucks. ``He was more lively, more into it,'' coach Jacques Lemaire said of Fernandez. ...

The Vancouver Canucks assigned backup goaltender Wade Flaherty to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League on Friday. Flaherty didn't see any action in the Canucks' season-opening 3-1 win over Detroit on Thursday. The 38-year-old spent the majority of last season with the Moose, posting a 26-14-4 record with a 2.40 goals-against average in 49 games. Flaherty was made expendable after the Canucks claimed former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Dany Sabourin off waivers earlier this week.

The Vancouver Canucks claimed goaltender Dany Sabourin off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, a move that may mean another trip to the AHL for veteran backup Wade Flaherty. The Penguins tried to sneak the 26-year-old Sabourin back to the AHL but weren't successful after the Canucks plucked him. ``We've put a lot of faith in our goaltending coach (Ian Clark) who's got a good feel for him,'' Canucks ...

Centre Marc Chouinard, one of the Vancouver Canucks free-agent signings in the off-season, will miss seven to 10 days with a sprained right shoulder. Chouinard suffered the injury in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver's final game of the NHL exhibition season. The Canucks open the regular season Thursday in Detroit, then play Friday in Columbus, Sunday in Colorado and Tuesday in Minnesota. ``We played eight (exhibition) games ...

Raffi Torres scored on an overtime power play Saturday night to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in the final NHL pre-season game for both teams. The Oilers enjoyed a 4-on-3 advantage after Vancouver winger Matt Cooke took a costly double minor at the end of the third period. Torres was alone when he took a centring pass from Shawn Horcoff and had an open ...