VANCOUVER – Alex Burrows hopes his first game in Canadian colours is not his last.
The Vancouver Canucks winger, finally getting a chance to represent his country at age 31, suffered a head injury in the second period of Canada’s 3-2 win over Slovakia in the opening game for both teams at the world hockey championship in Helsinki, Finland.
Canucks assistant general manager Laurence Gilman said that as of Friday afternoon no one in the organization had spoken with Burrows. But Gilman said the Canucks have been in close contact with the Team Canada training staff.
“Mike Burnstein, our head athletic trainer, was contacted by Team Canada’s training staff within minutes of Alex’s injury occurring,” Gilman said. “They informed him of the nature of the injury and Alex’s status. They are going to monitor him in the short term and will keep us apprised of his condition.”
Burrows appeared to collide accidentally with two Slovakian players in the Slovak end of the ice about six minutes into the second period. His head appeared to hit the ice as he fell and Burrows was clearly woozy as he struggled to regain his feet and skate to the Canadian bench.
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Burrows did not return, but after the game Team Canada officials sounded optimistic about his return to the tournament.
Head coach Brent Sutter described Burrows’ status as day-to-day and general manager Kevin Lowe said he expected Burrows to return to play in the tournament.
However, it’s unlikely Burrows will play Saturday when Canada meets the United States in Helsinki (9 a.m. PDT on TSN). The Americans won their tournament opener Friday, beating France 7-2.
Gilman said it is too early to speculate about when or if Burrows returns to play in the tournament.
“I don’t know the extent of the injury,” Gilman said. “Mike Burnstein informed (general manager) Mike (Gillis) and I and what Mike told us is what I told you. We were told he sustained a blow to the head, they took him into the dressing room and obviously because of the nature of an injury to your head they were conducting their tests and analysis on him.”
Gilman said the team had not received any definitive word on whether Burrows did suffer a concussion. The Canucks do not presently have any management representation at the tournament.
Burrows, the oldest player on the Canadian roster, began Friday’s game skating on a line with Edmonton Oilers youngsters Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
He spoke earlier this week about how much it meant to him to get an opportunity to play for Canada. Up until now, the only time Burrows played for Canada was when his Montreal team won the world ball hockey championships.
Burrows’ long and improbable journey to the NHL has been well chronicled. He was not drafted and toiled in the East Coast Hockey League before getting a chance to play for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. He has scored 26 or more goals in each of the past four seasons with the Canucks and has one year remaining on a contract that pays him $2 million a season, making him one of the NHL’s best bargains.
Burrows and fellow winger Jannik Hansen are the only Canucks playing in this year’s world championships. Hansen was named Denmark’s player of the game as his country fell 2-0 to the Czech Republic on Friday.
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