FanHouse Sami Salo

The parade of NHL contracts lasting more than a decade continues.

For the Vancouver Canucks, this one is likely the most significant. Goalie Roberto Luongo, the rock of the Canucks' defense for three years, has agreed to terms on a 12-year deal with Vancouver. The contract will keep him a Canucks through the 2021-2022 season, meaning Luongo will turn 43 at the end of the deal's final season.

The Vancouver Canucks have come a long way as an offensive team. This group is much more dangerous than previous Canuck teams, and it's a big part of why they're considered a legitimate threat to win the Stanley Cup.

That said, Vancouver still thrives with their defense. Coming off a big-time meltdown in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against Chicago, the Canucks got some bad news. One of their main defensive cogs is going to miss Tuesday's Game 3 in Chicago.

When you watch the Vancouver Canucks, you have to be impressed with their ability to take over a game they're hardly dominant in. Sometimes, it just works that way for you.

If you're a Canuck fan, you ride it as long as you can. The opportunistic Canucks started right where they left off after their sweep of St. Louis, taking a big lead through two periods while being outshot. They then proceeded to blow the lead, and needed a late Sami Salo goal to beat Chicago 5-3.

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Panthers 6, Capitals 2: After a couple of blowout losses this past week, the Florida Panthers rebounded for a convincing 6-2 win in Washington on Sunday, thanks in large part to a 3-for-6 effort from their power play. After Alexander Semin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead, the Panthers picked up three consecutive power play goals on their way to a four goal first period.

Bryan McCabe registered four points in the win, while Stephen Weiss picked up a goal and two assists. Jay Bouwmeester, Brett McLean and Keith Ballard also added two points.

First, they signed Mats Sundin before Christmas, and got him in the lineup for the first time last week.

Now, the Vancouver Canucks have gotten even more good news. The backbone of their team in the first part of the season, team captain and star goaltender Roberto Luongo, appears ready to get back in the lineup this week.

Out since suffering a groin injury in Pittsburgh November 22, Luongo has finally started practicing with the team, and the Vancouver Sun speculates that his return to the lineup could come as soon as Thursday at home against Phoenix.

Common symptoms of The Flu include headaches, fatigue, stomach discomfort, runny noses, coughing, and loss of appetite.

Apparently, there is a new strain of flu to hit the Vancouver area, causing things like shoulder and lower back injuries to Canucks defensemen.

"There's a very serious flu bug going around."

Even Canucks coach Alain Vigneault couldn't keep a straight face Saturday when he tried his flu-bug defence in describing the implausible number of injuries which have left his blueline in tatters.

There is something very serious going around, but it's not the flu.

Kevin Bieksa - It's now believed that he is suffering an upper rib or shoulder injury, and not a real flu as was thought before.

Sami Salo - Suffered a back/tailbone injury after a slew foot from the Stars' Ladislav Nagy. Yep, he's got "the flu".

Rory Fitzpatrick - The latest victim of this mysterious 'flu', who will miss Game Three. The true cause of his injury is not quite known, but I doubt he's popping NyQuil and drinking a bucket of chicken soup right about now.

First had had Upper and Lower Body Injuries, and now we have The Flu? This is getting really quite silly. I know hockey is war and war requires subterfuge, but how much worse can these descriptions get? "Overtime Induced Fatigue"?

With their blue line ravaged, the Canucks had to call up defensively-challenged Yannick Tremblay. His unofficial nickname is The Turnstile ... This isn't good news :(

See also: Pre-Series Canucks Injury Update.

While the Ducks are nicely rested and marinated for the second round, the Canucks are banged up and sore after a long, punishing series against the Dallas Stars.

The key injuries to note:

Sami Salo - Suffered a sore tailbone after being slew-footed by Ladislav Nagy late in Game Seven, and did not return. He's being very coy about his injury status, claiming he has the 'flu', something Vancouver office managers seem to hear a lot the day after a long OT game.

Kevin Bieksa - Definitely has the flu, and isn't hiding that fact at all:

"I'm not feeling good," Bieksa admitted during a round of interviews at Vancouver International Airport. "I don't know if I will be able to play. I'm not sure. I've had some blood work done and we're just waiting to see the results. Right now, I don't know exactly what it is."

Matt Cooke - Has not skated since suffering a groin pull in Game One, and had his status changed from 'day-to-day' to 'week-to-week'. There are rumours that Cooke could be available for Game Four or Five, but the team, obviously, is being very vague about his true status. The Canucks could definitely use his hitting and physical style against the goonish Ducks.

While suffering through attrition and injuries is part of the price that has to be paid to raise the Stanley Cup, the Canucks do not have the depth of the Anaheim Ducks to suffer too many bumps and bruises without facing a significant reduction in their on-ice ability.

For Bieksa, I'm kind of glad that he's under the weather. If Bieksa isn't feeling so hyper and rambunctious, he's a lot less likely to take dumb, aggressive penalties with his stick and utilize his positioning a lot more. Perhaps Vigneault will realize Bieksa has been dreadful on the Power Play, and give some more ice-time to Brent Sopel.

In the rare case of an athlete choosing comfort and security over getting the most money possible, Sami Salo signed a 4-year, $14million contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks yesterday. Despite Salo's injury problems over the years, he could have easily fetched $4million+ on the open market during the free agency frenzy.

His agent, Bill Zito Jr., certainly knew this, yet didn't push his client to simply show him the money.

"There is no grey area here, [Salo] could have got millions more," Zito said. "I can hang my greedy agent hat on and say, 'Oh no, what a nightmare, he turned his back on all this possible money.' "But as a friend, you say 'Wow.' I have a tremendous respect and admiration for him and what he did. "I mean, who does that? I don't know if I would. I don't know if I would have the balls to do that. I'm real real happy for him. He was just so happy to get this deal."

While Salo is always struggling to stay healthy (having only 2 seasons with 70+ games played), he is extremely valuable to the Canucks as a stalwart 2-way defenseman. There has been a lot of anxiety in Vancouver over the potential loss of Salo to free agency, and now fans can relax and focus completely on the playoffs.

This season, Salo has reached career highs in goals (13) and points (34) despite missing time due to 3 separate injuries. With the inconstant play of Mattias Ohlund and Willie Mitchell, and Kevin Bieksa's constant brain-farts, Salo has arguably been the best Canucks defenseman this season.

As long as Canucks management expects 2-3 injuries every year, then this was a good investment for them.