The injury woes of the Vancouver Canucks continue to mount as the team learned Tuesday that they would be without defenceman Sami Salo for up to six weeks after the blueliner sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
The injury occurred during the first period of the Canucks victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday. The 35-year old Salo has one assist in five games this season.
The injury comes at a particularly bad time for Vancouver after it was revealed that forward Pavol Demitra's recovery from off-season shoulder surgery is going much slower than expected. In addition the Canucks will be without sniper Daniel Sedin for four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his foot. To make matters even worse, off-season signing Mathieu Schneider has yet to play a game for the Canucks following shoulder surgery. He hopes to return to the team by the end of October.
Salo has a long history of injuries and has not played more than 67 games in a season since the lockout. He is however a very effective weapon for the Canucks on the powerplay as more than half of his points since arriving in Vancouver have come with the man advantage.
Aaron Rome is expected to take his spot on the blueline.
The team will also likely call up a forward from Manitoba of the AHL following the Moose's game Wednesday against the Abbotsford Heat.