Canucks clean out their lockers and reveal injuries

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Canucks season came to a crashing halt on the weekend and for the last time the players gathered at Rogers Arena to clean out their lockers and discuss the future.

A laundry list of injuries were revealed by several of the players. Alex Burrows suffered a fractured and dislocated rib cartilage. He will need six-to-eight weeks to recover. The injury occurred after a linesman fell on him late in game three and the following day it flared up in practice. Burrows says the ride in the ambulance to the Calgary-area hospital was just a precaution.

“Moving around was really complicated and really uncomfortable. When the doctor looked at it, he couldn’t tell if something was wrong on the inside with my spleen or my lungs, so it was the best thing for me to go to the hospital and make sure everything was good.”

Zack Kassian discussed his back injury that sidelined him for the last portion of the season. He revealed he will not need surgery and admitted it was really tough watching the playoffs from the season.

“As players you are excited for the playoffs and to not get a chance to participate was really frustrating. At the same time, injuries are part of the game and I have no doubt I will be ready to go for next year.”

Brad Richardson will undergo surgery next week on a fracture in his ankle. Richardson is a pending unrestricted free agent and it is unclear if he will be back with Vancouver. Shawn Matthias will also be a free agent and it sounds like he thinks his days with the Canucks are numbered.

“I do really enjoy playing here. I respect all the guys and the management. It is a great place to play and I would love to be back here, but with the business side of things you never know what is going to happen. It is a salary cap world, so we will see what happens, but I did really enjoy playing here.”

Ryan Miller expects to be back in Vancouver next season and will spend the offseason rehabbing his knee injury. He says the last time he suffered a knee sprain he bounced back nicely.

“Taking my time with my last injury I had a good follow-up season. I think paying attention to getting my right side to catch up and become as coordinated and as quick as it was before the injury is something I can get right in to.”

Two Canucks will represent their countries at the upcoming World Hockey Championship in Prague. Dan Hamhuis will play for Team Canada and Nick Bonino will play for Team USA.

Coach Willie Desjardins, General Manager Jim Benning and Team President Trevor Linden will meet with the media on Wednesday morning.

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