Excitement was starting to mount in Vancouver Saturday evening as the Canucks prepared to play their first game since the signing of Mats Sundin. They host the Chicago Blackhawks at GM Place.
After deciding not to sign with a team this past offseason and also pondering possible retirement, Sundin elected to rejoin the league by signing with the Canucks on Thursday.
Though not expected to join the club until December 27, the 37-year-old former first-overall pick should provide a nice little boost to a Vancouver team that is currently one point behind Calgary for first place in the Northwest Division.
Sundin played the last 13 of his 17 NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and has 555 goals and 766 assists in 1,305 games.
He became a free agent this past offseason after declining to waive his no-trade clause during the 2007-08 season, when Toronto went 36-35-11 and missed the playoffs. The Swede posted 32 goals and 46 assists for the Maple Leafs last season.
Meanwhile, Vancouver enters this game coming off an emotionally-charged 4-2 victory over Edmonton on Wednesday. Daniel Sedin scored twice and picked up an assist in leading the Canucks on the night they raised former captain Trevor Linden's No. 16 into the rafters, just the second number retired in club history.
Jannik Hansen registered a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who have won three of their last four games. Curtis Sanford made 22 saves to collect the win.
Vancouver, 9-3-1 as the host this year, has now won the first two games of its current four-game homestand that ends on Monday versus Anaheim.
However, the Canucks may have to continue that residency without a pair of defenseman in Sami Salo and Shane O'Brien. Salo left Thursday's game with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss four weeks, while O'Brien exited due to a leg issue and is questionable for tonight.
The Canucks will be facing one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now in the Blackhawks, who have won six straight games after last night's 3-2 overtime victory against Calgary.
Duncan Keith netted the winning goal just 23 seconds into OT, while Dave Bolland and Patrick Kane each scored once for the Blackhawks, who won six straight for the first time since December 26, 2001-January 6, 2002.
The club hasn't won seven in a row in nearly 28 years, last doing so from January 4-21, 1981.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 32 shots and Brian Campbell recorded a pair of assists in helping the Blackhawks improve to 7-0-1 in December. That run has helped Chicago move to within five points of first-place Detroit in the Central Division.
Chicago ends a three-game tour of western Canada tonight, having opened the swing with a 9-2 victory in Edmonton. The Blackhawks are 7-5-3 on the road, but has lost two straight and 10 of their last 11 in Vancouver.
