In a summer in which so much has gone right for the team, the Vancouver Canucks received some bad news as they learned that forward Pavol Demitra will not be ready to start the season with the team.
According to several published reports, the 34-year old Slovak will miss at least six more weeks after undergoing shoulder surgery at the end of last season.
"The shoulder is not quite strong enough yet," Demitra told 24 Hours at UBC, where he skated by himself in the morning.
"I started skating last two weeks back home in Slovakia and day by day it's getting better."
Demitra missed the team's final four playoff games and was forced to undergo shoulder surgery after tearing both his front and back rotator cuff. Doctors also reportedly found bone chips during the surgery.
The veteran wingers, who is set to make $4 million and was penciled in as a winger on the Canucks second line, had 20 goals and 33 assists in 69 games in his first season in Vancouver last year.
