I'll take the cautious approach. Roberto Luongo is either going to return and
a) save the skins of a mediocre team through insane saves
b) inspire the team to play better for a whole 60 minutes
c) look rusty in his return and the team continues to suck

I'll have any Canuck updates prior to the game against the Coyotes, like the possibility of Wellwood sitting out this one for example. Until then, I put together a few Photoshop images that I think capture the day and the moment. Enjoy.

UPDATE 1

Sami "Glass" Salo will not return to the lineup just yet. He practiced with the team and could make his return this weekend against Columbus.

UPDATE 2

It appears Wellwood may sit this one out, as the struggling center has cooled off considerably in recent weeks. (Yes, I am dealing with the fact that he isn't Superman after all, even though he could be).

UPDATE 3

Luongo said all the things a true team captain would say after practice today:

"We win as a team and I am not going to come in here and win a game by myself," Luongo said. "We need 20 guys to play as a team and play well. That is the way we always won here and that’s the way it is going to be from here on out."

Ryan Kesler, who looked visibly pissed off after the loss to the Devils echoed Luongo's sentiments:

"I don’t care who we have in the net," said centre Ryan Kesler. "We could have had a brick wall in there lately and we still would have lost. We have to be better defensively and with Louie coming back, obviously it’s going to help. But we still have to be better defensively in front of him."

You tell 'em Kesler. If this team doesn't respond now...

UPDATE 4

- Curtis Sanford not-so surprisingly cleared waivers and has been assigned to Manitoba.

UPDATE 5
It sounds more and more like this team is raring to go tonight. Demitra talked about his demotion and promotion to Sundin's line today:

"Obviously, I wasn't happy about it," said Demitra. "But you have to get focus, get mad and be ready to play. Mats was the reason I came here, because of the rumours during the summer that he was going to be here. All my life, I was playing with one guy all year, and Mats is going to make hockey so easy.

"He has shown for many years that he's a top player in the league because he's got that big body and he's tough to get a puck from. He has great vision and can find you -- so it's going to be nice to play with a guy like that. And you just need to get chemistry going."

More on that here. OK, so does what Demitra said make him look like a tit or what? Fine, Gillis dangled Sundin in front of him to get Demo here, but that isn't the point. What's this garbage about him "playing with 1 guy all year?" How about you just do your damned job and you'll EARN a scoring role!? Demitra has done nothing to deserve any "royal" treatment from a coach. Lose the fucking superstar attitude, man. You are not a superstar!
Is he going to sulk if he fails on Lines 1 or 2 in the future and gets put on a different line? I just detect a lousy attitude from him and it re-enforces my point that the guy is a gutless puke. Go out there and earn your damned paycheck! Jesus. We don't need this kind of shit right now, putting it bluntly.

Line combos for tonight:

Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Taylor Pyatt

Pavol Demitra-Mats Sundin-Jannik Hansen

Alex Burrows-Ryan Kesler-Steve Bernier

Darcy Hordichuk-Ryan Johnson-Mason Raymond


STATS TO PONDER

From CDC:

The Canucks will want a strong start against the Coyotes. Vancouver is 14-0-2 when leading after 2 periods and 17-6-4 when they score first.

Well there you can see the problems of late. They have not been leading after the second period all that often and are not scoring first enough.

The Canucks will now try to avoid losing six in a row at home for the first time since Nov. 3-18, 1978.

UPDATE 6

Remember the last time the Coyotes came to town? Yeah, we won 1-0, but local boy Kyle Turris was benched by Gretzky, causing a bit of controversy. Tonight, Turris will play in front of his friends and family.






































































T Tags: Luongo+returns Canucks Coyotes game+preview photoshop Luongod Mighty+mouse Batman