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Back problems keep Sakic in Colorado for treatments

Pat Rooney, Special to the Rocky

Published November 11, 2008 at 1:04 p.m.

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Avalanche at Canucks

* When: 8 p.m. Wednesday.

* Where: GM Place, Vancouver, British Columbia.

* TV/Radio: Altitude; KCKK-AM (1510).

* Leading scorers

Colorado (6-8)GAPts
RW Milan Hejduk8513
C Paul Stastny31013
LW Ryan Smyth459
LW Wojtek Wolski178
D John-Michael Liles257

Coach: Tony Granato

Vancouver (9-6)GAPts
C Henrik Sedin31114
LW Daniel Sedin5712
C Ryan Kesler4711
D Kevin Bieksa3811
LW Mason Raymond5510
LW Alexandre Burrows4610

Coach: Alain Vigneault

Injuries: Colorado - C Joe Sakic (back) is out. Vancouver - RW Pavol Demitra (ribs) is questionable; RW Jannik Hansen (groin) is probable.

* Sidelight: The Avalanche recorded three wins, one in a shootout, and suffered one overtime loss in four games at Vancouver last season.

* Notes: With Sakic sidelined, center Tyler Arnason is expected to return to the lineup. Arnason was a healthy scratch Saturday against Nashville after recording only two goals and a minus-2 rating in the first 13 games. . . . Hejduk has posted 33 goals and 52 points against Vancouver, his best totals against any opponent. . . . Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo is among the NHL's top 10 in goals-against average (2.34) and saves percentage (.920). . . . The Canucks have won five of six. . . . Hansen has missed the past four games because of a groin injury but is expected to return to Vancouver's lineup.

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It's no-go for Joe.

Avalanche captain Joe Sakic will remain on the sideline when Colorado begins a three-game trip tonight at Vancouver.

Sakic's aching back, which kept him out of last week's game against Minnesota and sent Sakic to the sideline after the first period of Saturday's 1-0 win against Nashville, forced him to remain in Colorado while his teammates left for Vancouver on Tuesday.

Sakic did not practice Tuesday, but coach Tony Granato remained hopeful Sakic could rejoin the club before the conclusion of its three-game swing through Canada.

"He's going to continue his treatments here," Granato said. "He won't be on the ice until he starts to feel a little bit better. Hopefully, that is in the next couple of days. He won't play in Vancouver, but he will continue treatments here and see where it goes. Hopefully, it will get better, make some progress, and then, hopefully, he'll join us before the end of the trip."

The 39-year-old Sakic is the Avalanche's co-leader with 10 assists and is its third-leading scorer with 12 points. Sakic missed 38 games last season because of a sports hernia, but because tests earlier this week revealed no structural damage in Sakic's back, the club remains optimistic this ordeal will not become a long-term problem.

Sakic's back flared up during Saturday's game, so the Avalanche is keen on proceeding with caution.

"Obviously, you'd love to have him in there because he's our captain, he's Joe, and he means so much to our team," Granato said. "You also have to realize that it's part of the NHL, it's part of coaching, it's part of being part of an organization - you're going to have injuries and you deal with them. I'm looking forward to seeing how we deal without Joe in our lineup."