Canucks face John Tortorella and the Blue Jackets tonight

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Canucks hit the ice tonight for the first time in over a week, facing the Columbus Blue Jackets at Rogers Arena. It will be the first time John Tortorella faces his former team in Vancouver since being fired in 2014. He says he is looking forward to the game and that he holds no ill will towards the team, the fans or the media.

“Media and coaches are going argue and they are going to go through that process, but it is never a personal thing with me. In the short year I was here, the people were great. The things that were said in the stands when things were going wrong, is just part of the business.”

Coach Willie Desjardins expects Tortorella will use his return to fire up the Blue Jackets.

“You know he is an intense guy and you know he has a lot of pride and he’ll want this game coming back here. His guys will be geared up for it. They are in a spot where they want to get things going in a right way so they will be a hungry team.”

The Canucks enter this evening five points behind the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference. Eight of their next 11-games are on home ice and Desjardins says they need to start collecting wins.

“It is going to be tight, especially because we are behind. When you have a cushion up front you can afford to drop a game, but we are behind so we can’t afford to lose any games. We have to fight for every point.”

Help is on the way for Vancouver. Captain Henrik Sedin returns to the lineup after missing the last four games with an upper body injury. Defenceman Dan Hamhuis will sit for at least one more game, although he is closing in on a return from a facial injury that has kept him out for several months.

Ryan Miller gets the start in net for Vancouver while Columbus counters with rookie goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

In the Canucks one previous meeting with the Blue Jackets this season, they won 5-3 on November 10th in Columbus.

Daniel Sedin will be in the lineup tonight after playing in the all-star game. He earned a $91,000US cheque after the Pacific Division won the three-on-three tournament. It has now been revealed he donated the entire winnings to the Canucks training staff.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. and you can watch the game on Sportsnet.

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