Canucks trim roster ahead of exhibition game against Calgary

CALGARY (NEWS1130) – After splitting games against San Jose, the Canucks exhibition schedule continues tonight against the Flames in Calgary.

Coach Willie Desjardins will keep Alex Burrows, Nick Bonino and Zack Kassian as the top line.

“I see them as a good group,” says Desjardins, “I think you have a bit of everything on that line. You have a playmaker, you have a guy who goes to the net hard and you have another guy who will get in front of the net. I think they have the potential to be a great line and we will take another look at them tonight.”

Desjardins’s second line will consist of Jannik Hansen, Chris Higgins and Bo Horvat. Horvat says he is going to take advantage of the opportunity.

“You definitely have to go hard every game no matter what. You have to make a good first impression on the coaching staff. You are a younger guy and they don’t know you too well. For me, I have to go out there every shift and play my game, play hard and make a good first impression.”

On the third line, Hunter Shinkaruk will lineup with Shawn Matthias and Brad Richardson. After scoring in the preseason opener, Shinkaruk says he wants to get better every game.

“Every game I want to build off of and every game I want to have a better game then I did last time. I felt very comfortable with my game against San Jose and now I just have to keep building on it and keep creating chances.”

Henrik and Daniel Sedin will not dress tonight and Ryan Miller will also watch the game from Vancouver.

Before the game the Canucks sent eight players to their farm team in Utica. There were no real surprises among the players who were re-assigned. Dane Fox, Kellan Lain and Curtis Valk headlined a list that also included Mike Zalewski, Jeremie Blain, Alex Grenier, Alex Mallet and Spencer Humphries. Desjardins explains why those players were sent down.

“We have to get ready for the season because we don’t have a lot of time. I have to see guys that are maybe going to play together. At this time we didn’t feel they were ready to start here. I think the American League is a great league. I think if you play even three months in that league it can make a difference. I think for them to get ready that is what they need and for us to get ready, we have to make our lineup is down so we are running guys we think are going to play.”

Tonight’s game begins at 6 p.m.. You can watch the game on Sportsnet 360 and News1130 will have updates every ten minutes on the fives and goal alerts when they happen.