Canucks happy to have time to heal before finals begin

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa never doubted teammate Ryan Kesler would come back after limping off the ice and into the locker room during Game 5 against the San Jose Sharks.

And there was no question Kesler, who returned to score the tying goal with 13.2 seconds left in regulation, would be ready to start the Stanley Cup finals, especially after the NHL announced they won’t begin until June 1.

“He won’t let anything stop him,” said Bieksa, who scored the series-clinching goal on a lucky bounce in double overtime. “If it was something serious they would have just cut it off and put a prosthetic on and he would have kept playing and probably still would have scored.”

Kesler, who once asked doctors to cut off a badly broken finger in the playoffs and returned within minutes after losing teeth to an errant puck in the second round, made it clear Thursday he would have been ready for the finals whenever they started.

He jokingly said about hobbling off the ice during Game 5 that he left to call his wife because he thought he left the iron on.

But it’s just as clear other Canucks will benefit from the break.

Vancouver may not know who it will play for the Stanley Cup yet — Boston and Tampa Bay will play a decisive Game 7 tonight — but coach Alain Vigneault said defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Aaron Rome, both hurt during Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, will be ready when they do.

Ehrhoff had 50 points in the regular season and is tops among remaining defensemen in the playoffs with 11, and Rome was averaging 13 minutes of ice time on a third pairing.

After 18 games over six weeks, it’s safe to assume others are hurting too.