Ohlund Article - Ohlund on Naslund's Jersey retirement

OK, so I'm playing a bit o' catchup. Won't post about Ohlie's Oct knee related missed attendance but I can always count on Iain M to write an Ohlund piece (Van Sun Dec 10/10). Man, I wish I could've been here to watch the ceremony. I wonder if someone youtubed it. Hmm..

Blue-liner bolts back to Vancouver for first time in rival's jersey
Mattias Ohlund is excited to witness Naslund's jersey retirement, but says he's thinking more about his health and less about homecoming

It is the long-overdue return of one of the greatest Canucks, the Swede who came to regard Vancouver as home and bled his team's many-changing colours for more than a decade.

Finally, there will be acknowledgment what this warrior did for the National Hockey League team. Hopefully, Markus Naslund won't mind sharing the spotlight for a second or two Saturday with Mattias Ohlund.

Ohlund will be an honoured guest at Naslund's retirement ceremony, but won't be wearing a tuxedo as he'll be playing against the Canucks about an hour later.

The 34-year-old defencemen is playing in Vancouver for the first time since a seven-year free-agent contract took him to the Tampa Bay Lightning 17 months ago.

"The one thing you do miss is being in a hockey market," Ohlund said before the Lightning travelled to Edmonton for tonight's game against the Oilers. "Our fans in Tampa are very good but we play a lot of games [in the Southeast Division] against teams like Atlanta and Florida, which are struggling attendance-wise.

"So that's one thing you miss -- playing games in hockey markets like Calgary and Edmonton and, of course, Vancouver. But the fans in Tampa have been great. The attendance at our games is not that different than Vancouver."

Ohlund said he is looking forward to seeing his friend Naslund honoured before tonight's game, but actually hasn't spent much time thinking about his return to Vancouver.

The Lightning have played a pile of road games since October -- Tampa is near the end of a 21-game stretch that included only five home dates -- and Ohlund is trying to find health and form following off-season knee surgery.

He missed the first eight games of the season, the third time in four years Ohlund has had a significant injury setback, and he may not get anywhere near the end of that $26.25-million contract that expires when he is 39.

"I've been struggling with injuries the last few years, so I'm just taking it a day at a time," Ohlund said. "I enjoy hockey as much as I did seven or eight years ago, but health-wise, as you get older, it becomes more of an issue."

Ohlund's average ice time of 18:13 is four minutes fewer than last season and nearly seven minutes below his career average. He has just two assists in 20 games, and hasn't scored a goal since leaving the Canucks.

His 11 seasons in Vancouver included 770 games and 325 points, the most by a Canuck defenceman. It's quite possible had he re-signed in Vancouver and surpassed 1,000 games, Ohlund's number might have been retired, too, because there isn't much debate he was the best defenceman in team history.

And yet, Ohlund said he is happy in Tampa and has no regrets about leaving.

"It was time for me to move on," he said. "I was ready for the change."

Ohlund said he was in Vancouver last May so his son, Victor, could have continuing nonlife threatening treatment at BC Children's Hospital. The family, which includes his daughter Hannah and wife Linda, is planning a Vancouver vacation next summer.

"We didn't have a ton of playoff success, but we had some great teams there," Ohlund said. "I'm very happy for Markus and excited to be a small part of that event. He's a great person, got a great family and I'm very happy for him."

Saturday's ceremony begins at 6:10 p.m. to accommodate NHL guidelines that demand pre-game retirement ceremonies be finished before regular warm-up times for the teams. CBC has moved the opening faceoff to 7:30 p.m., so a packaged version of Naslund's ceremony can be televised nationally, starting about 7 p.m.

New Ohlund baby and the Hart trophy

Looks like the Ohlunds are going to be expecting in July. Still not sure if Ohlie's still on crutches but he was at early June. See Magnus Tosser's Swedish article June 5, 2010. Well, at least try to understand google's translated version.. haha!

And it was nice that Henrik Sedin thanked Ohlie (along with Markus Naslund, Trent Klatt and Trevor Linden) in his acceptance speech for the Hart trophy.

Here's Hank's acceptance speech, word for word (aftonbladet.se):
Henrik Sedins tacktal – ord för ord:

"Tack så mycket. Jag antar att jag måste vara riktigt snabb här... Jag vill tacka Canucks-organisationen. Aquilini-familjen som är här ikväll. Mike Gillis och klubbledningen. Våra underbara tränare, och självklart mina lagkamrater. Utan er skulle jag inte vara här i kväll.

Tack till alla fans i Vancouver. Vi är lyckligt lottade som får spela i en sådan stad, och ni har varit ett väldigt starkt stöd de senaste tio åren eller så. Min hustru Johanna, mina två söner – tack för att ni finns där för mig. Mamma och pappa, tack för alla uppoffringar ni gjort genom åren. Mina två äldre bröder, för att ni lät oss spela med er trots att vi var väldigt irriterande småsyskon.

Jag vill också tacka några före detta lagkamrater. Markus Näslund, Mattias Öhlund, Trent Klatt, Trevor Linden, för att ni tog hand om oss de första åren.

Också, tack till Daniel... Det finns inte en chans att du kan säga att du är en bättre spelare än mig nu, så... Tack!"

Update on Ohlie... late May

So I heard through the grapevine that Ohlie had flown into Van recently for his son. E Pap reported that he and Viktor were in the pressbox watching one of the Canucks playoff games against Chicago. Now, I see that he's undergone surgery, according to Erik Erlendsson..

OHLUND ON CRUTCHES: Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund underwent a minor procedure on his right leg and is walking on crutches. A team spokesman said the surgery is not related to the ankle injury Ohlund had this season. He should be ready for training camp in September.

Ohlund may be out for the rest of the season

I miss Ohlie playing for the Canucks. I went to a game last week and though we won and it was exciting (at least the first period was), it was all very meh without Ohlie. I was pretty disappointed when the Swedes were bumped off the Olympic gold running. I think it was injuries and underlying flu but who knows?

In Ohlie news, apparently he hasn't skated since colliding with Christian Hanson (who?) from Toronto last Thursday. Another ankle injury. Not sure if it's the same ankle that was sprained from November.

Ohlund Injury update: lower body = right ankle

So apparently after missing 5 straight games, it's been released that Mattias has a right ankle injury and is day to day.

Exciting game tonight!

Got treated out to the preseason game against the Calgary Flames tonight and whoa, was the ending ever exciting! People started leaving with 2 minutes to the end of the third. The Canucks were down 3-4 (after being up 3-0). Amazingly enough, there was a Canucks goal at the 10 second mark. (People started coming back). After that one was disallowed (it was after the whistle), people started leaving again but then there was ANOTHER Canucks goal with TWO seconds left on the clock, tying the game and bringing it to OT! .. then to shootout.. then to sudden death shootout.. then to a Canucks WIN thanks to Daniel Sedin. OH my god. Awesome game for the entertainment factor.

ASIDE: Mattias Ohlund has a minor hip injury and is wearing #5. I guess he and Lukas Krajicek have switched numbers from when they were both in Vancouver. Ha ha. Here's a link to the Lightning Round with Mattias Ohlund. I enjoyed these answers:

LR: If you had to pick someone to play you in a movie who would it be?
MO: That’s a good question. Wow. How about Brad Pitt?

LR: If you could be in a band, which one would you be in and which instrument would you play?
MO: I would be the lead singer for U2.

LR: What is something fans may not know about you?
MO: I’m not that exciting.

Ohlund injured but still plays

"Canucks keep Ohlund's injury a mystery" was the headline of Zeimer's article yesterday.

Vigneault: "He's got an upper-body injury and is going to be re-evaluated when we get home and we'll let everybody know on Sunday."

Ohlund: "I just got hurt on a play and we'll see how it is tomorrow..I just got hit and didn't feel comfortable enough to finish playing and hopefully it's not too bad."

Well, here we are Sunday and Ohlund's okay. Thank you! He's actually got 9+ minutes going into the 2nd..

It's not a broken finger after all

More on Matty's finger by Iain MacIntyre:

NO MORE MR. TOUGH GUY: You won't see defenceman Mattias Ohlund fight again for the foreseeable future. Not that he doesn't want to, mind you.

"Yeah, that's a big part of my game," the Swede said sarcastically.

Ohlund has a small brace taped to the end of a finger on his right hand to support a ligament that tore away from bone, causing the tip of the digit to sag. The injury is not a broken finger nor did it occur when Ohlund, who has only a handful of fights in his 11-year career, pounded Erik Cole on Saturday after the Edmonton Oiler took a run at him.

Ohlund said the injury happened sometime during the Canucks' earlier six-game road trip, but only since the Cole fight has he been bandaging the finger more heavily. Anyone who fights with tape on his hands faces a match penalty.

"I don't even think about it," Ohlund said of playing with the injury. "It has no effect."

Ok. So why is he playing crap minutes Alain?

Mattias Ohlund. What a MAN!

Damn, do you see a pattern here? Mattias Ohlund isn't known as a fighter, but if you really want to annoy Mattias, you elbow him. If you're really dumb, you go do that because Mattias Ohlund is really good at calling elbows out. Eric Cole's gonna have a really nice shiner after his bout with Ohlund last night. Adding insult to injury, as a result of not fastening his jersey tiedowns, Eric got booted from the game.

Oh, and Mattias Ohlund was fighting with a broken right finger. You could just feel the pride of every Canucks fan watching. Haha!

It's all about Trevor Linden baby

Last night's 6-2 game against the Flames was such a relief. I don't think there's a Canucks player that everybody loves more than Trevor Linden. So when it comes down to it, who cares about the Canucks, it's TREVOR LINDEN that we want to win the Stanley Cup!

I cry for Brendan Morrison, Lukas Krajicek and Aaron Miller who all look out like they're out for the season. The only ones that we can maybe look forward to getting back are Mattias Ohlund and Mason Raymond. Last heard, the earliest Mason could be back is the 2nd playoff round. Mattias Ohlund's recovery is going better than anticipated. (Doesn't it always with Mattias) He's been skating and is aiming to be back as soon as the first game of the post season.

So apparently we didn't do so well last night..?

I've missed the last two games but heard they were painful to watch..

Re: Ohlund.. Iain McIntyre's article on Ohlund does give a bit more information...
Nonis:

"It wasn't the pain; Ohlie's a pretty tough guy and he never complains about that. It was the fact the swelling wasn't going down. It was getting worse and it was affecting his ability to play. We thought with rest and icing, playing every second day was a possibility. But the swelling was getting worse and it was looking like he might play only every third or fourth or fifth game. And that didn't make any sense."

Ohlund:

"It's not a big deal. There are a lot of guys who go through this. There are probably guys [on the Canucks] who have, maybe not exactly the same thing, but go through similar stuff with injuries. It's part of the game and I think every team is the same."

Video of Ohlund interview - knee

Wow, having all of those microphones in your face seems quite claustrophobic..

The injuries are now as follows: Bieksa - wrist (from fighting last night), Miller - shoulder (hit from last night), Ohlund - knee, Kesler - foot (shot block last night), Salo - flu. Salo will play tomorrow, while Bieksa and Kesler (who both went for x-rays) are still "status - unknown" for tomorrow. Ohlund and Miller are definitely out for tomorrow and are on the indefinite list.

So torn... we WON but we've lost Ohlund! ..and likely Miller

What a goal filled 1st period! 44 shots on goal combined on Ellis and Mason and 6 goals for the night for the Vancouver Canucks. The fighting and instigating majors and misconducts with a minute left in play were interesting.. The hit on Aaron Miller looked really bad though. I think the shoulder will take him out of the lineup again. Here's a photo of Bieksa wanting to get into the fray again..

On Ohlund.... When Scott Rintoul said that Ohlund had bone chips in his knee and may be out for 4-6 days or for the season, my stomach sank.

Snippet from Jason Botchford's article:

"It [only] impacted me the last two minutes of the last game when I felt sore," Ohlund said. "I have been feeling more sore after the games but when I've been playing I've felt 100 per cent, except the last few minutes of the last game.

"It's mostly rest and we'll see how it goes ... I felt pretty good [Thursday], a lot better than I felt [Wednesday]. Hopefully that's a good sign."

The Canucks will wait four to six days for the swelling to go down and the pain to subside before making a decision on a possible knee scope.

"Nobody knows the exact time frame [if I have it scoped]," Ohlund said. "But if I have it done, obviously I hope to be back playing at the end of the regular season or the playoffs.

"We're not sure how good the chances are."

Ohlund's back and Luongo wants to fight

He's back! So Ohlund's back for tonight's last home game against Colorado. Pretty exciting for Colorado fans, considering if they lose this one, they'll be definitely eliminated from playoff contention. Tonight will also be the Jerseys off our backs and Canucks players awards. I wonder if it will be televised? I don't think Ohlund will get the Babe Pratt Award this year. I think it'll go to Kevin Bieksa, though I think Salo and Ohlund should share it this year. From Botchford's article:

Before Ohlund was injured, he was leading the team in minutes played, having yet another year in which he shut down the league's best forwards, but did so in his Ohlund-like way -- seemingly quietly and without much fanfare.

Throughout his Canucks career, he has been one of the team's most important but underrated players.

"Mattias is a very experienced defenceman and a great leader," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's been in our top-two pairs all year. He plays power play and PK. We're getting [back] a guy who logs a lot of minutes."

Aww.. I kinda miss hearing the AV insults from the beginning of the year.

As for Roberto wanting to fight, I was just joking. Or, rather, he was. Luongo joked that he intentionally let in a bad goal in the LA game to charge up his team. "It was either that or get in a fight," he said. To which Henrik interrupted and said, "I don't think he would have that big of a chance."

"Maybe I'll just fight [Henrik] in practice and see how that goes."

Hee hee! I can just imagine them fake glaring at each other(and Louie has that mean glare you know) and saying, "BRING IT ON!"

Waa.. I can't sleep!

Well, since I can't sleep, I might as well put up a post. The Canucks were without Mattias for the first time this season. It looked like they were doing well in the first period but Colorado and Sakic came back with a vengence to win in shootout 5-4.

From canucks.com:

Just as Mitchell is set to return to the line-up after missing the past five games with a groin strain, Ohlund is going to step out.

The Swedish horse injured his elbow during Wednesday's 2-0 win over the Predators when his elbow pad slid up as he fell to the ice.

"It was in the second period and it was pretty simple: I just fell down on the ice," said Ohlund, who currently leads the team in ice time averaging just under 25 minutes per game. "I got a little cut on my elbow that can't be closed yet, it needs to be open for a few days to heal from the inside. It's not a big deal, but it's something we need to look after."

"They could sew it up and I could probably play, but there's a risk of infection and that wouldn�t be good so we�re just taking it slow and making sure we do the right thing."